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THE 



CLAS. CAL STUDENT'S 
TRANSLATION OF HORACE. 



LONDON : 

PRINTED BY G. LILLEY, ftUEES'S HEAD PASSA&E, 

PATERNOSTER ROW. 



[lu f&t&JUJo 






THE 

CLASSICAL STUDENT'S 
TRANSLATION OF HORACE ; 

OR S 

THE WORKS 

OF 

dUINTUS HOMTIUS FLACCUS, 

TRANSLATED 

FOR 

CLASSICAL STUDENTS, 

ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE MIDDLE SYSTEM OF TEACHING CLASSICS. 

BY 

THE REV. H. P. HAUGHTON, B.A. 

RECTOR OF MARKFIELD, LEICESTERSHIRE \ ' 
FORMERLY QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SCHOLAR, AND 
HULMIAN EXHIBITIONER, OF BRAZEN NOSE COLLEGE, 

©xfortf : 

AUTHOR OF THE MIDDLE SYSTEM OF TEACHING CLASSIC! . 






LONDON;: fj 

LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMAN? 

MDCCCXLIV. 




s?* 



■?*%•* 



(Sntuetr at Stationers' I§aII. 



PREFACE. 



The object of the following work is to supply 
the Classical Student with a Translation of a Latin 
writer, on the principles advanced in " The Middle 
System of Teaching Classics ;" to which he is re- 
ferred for their development. 

The works of Horace have been selected for 
translation, in order that the Latin Student may be 
enabled at the earliest period to become acquainted 
with the most popular and useful of all the writings 
which remain to us of the Eoman poets. 

The general plan of the Translation is as follows : 

1. The Original is rendered word for word. 

2. Wherever a word of the Original is rendered 
by two or more words they are connected. 



VI FHEFACE. 

3. The renderings are so far as possible the de- 
rivatives from the Original. 

4. Wherever the Translation is, from its verbal 
or derivative character, obscure, it is explained. 

5. All ellipses necessary to the sense and gram- 
matical construction are supplied, in italics. 

6. The Translation is accompanied, wherever it 
is necessary, by explanatory and critical notes. 

7. All indelicate passages are omitted. 

The Translation, being verbal, is the most literal 
that has been or can be produced ; by the arrange- 
ment of the hyphen the most simple ; by the deri- 
vative renderings it shews the connection between 
the Latin and English, and the figurative meanings ; 
and by supplying all ellipses completes the sense, 
and grammatical construction. The notes supply 
the information necessary for fully understanding 
the Original ; and the omission of all indelicate 
passages renders it fit to be put into the hands 
of youth. 

The text of Doering has principally been fol- 
owed ; and the best Translators, Commentators, 



PREFACE. Vll 

and Lexicographers, have been consulted through- 
out the work. 

For a full explanation of the manner in which it 
is recommended that the Translation should he 
used, recurrence ought to be had to the previously 
mentioned treatise. 

The mode is summarily this : 

The Translation should be first read, and tho- 
roughly understood ; next, the Translation and the 
Original alternately, the Translation being repeated 
after the Original ; when the Translation should be 
closed, and the Original simply rendered : and, 
lastly, the Original should be read by itself. 

On translating a second portion, the first should 
previously be read in the original ; and on com- 
mencing a third, the first and second portions. 

On proceeding to the fourth portion, if it should 
be too much to reperuse the three preceding ones, 
the second and third should be read, and so on, to 
the end of the work. 

A hundred long lines of our Author may, with 
the help of this Translation, be studied, construed, 



Mil PREFACE. 

and read, as described, and two similar preceding 
portions reperused, within three hours ; and that 
by one who has commenced Latin olily a few 
weeks. Thus, the whole works of Horace, con- 
taining nearly eight thousand lines, may, at the 
above rate daily, be translated in less than a quarter 
of a year, or four times within a year, and including 
the reading the Original without translating, be 
perused twelve times within the year. 

It is unnecessary to add how greatly such a 
Translation, and mode of using it, must facilitate the 
acquirement of a knowledge of Latin in general, 
and a familiar acquaintance with the Author in 
particular ; while it is humbly hoped that the work 
will be found as free from errors as could be ex- 
pected in one of its character. 

Henry Philip Haughton. 



Rectory, Marefieid, Leicestershire 
November 27, 1844. 



THE LIFE 

OF 

QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS, 

FROM 

SUETONIUS. 



Quintus Horatius Flaccus, a Venusinian, his 
father being, as he himself indeed relates, a freed- 
man, and collector of taxes : as however it has been 
believed, a dealer in salt fish : since one in quarrel 
reproached him, " How often I have seen your 
father wiping his nose with his arm !" having been 
summoned to the Philippian war by Marcus Brutus 
the commander, served as a Tribune of soldiers ; 



X LIFE OF QUINTUS HOltATJUS FLACCUS. 

and his side being conquered, on pardon being ob- 
tained, procured a Queestorial secretaryship : and 
having been introduced first to Maecenas, then to 
Augustus, held no mean place in the friendship of 
both. How much Maecenas loved him, is suffi- 
ciently demonstrated in the Epigram : 

" If, Horatius, T do not now love you more than my 
own bowels, may you see me your companion more lean 
than Ninnius :" 

but much more in his last will by the following re- 
quest to Augustus : 

" Be you mindful of Horatius Flaccus, as of myself." 

Augustus offered him an Epistolary office, as he 
signifies in this writing to Maecenas : " Formerly I 
was equal to writing letters to my friends : now 
since I am very occupied and infiim I desire to 
take from you our friend Horatius. He will come 
therefore from that parasitical table to this royal 



Life of quintus horatius flaccus. xi 

one, and assist me in writing letters." And indeed 
he was not either incensed against him for refusing 
or at all desisted to heap upon him his friend- 
ship. Epistles are extant, from which, for the 
sake of proof, I have subjoined a few words. 
" Take to yourself anything of right in my house, 
as if you were my companion ; since I wished to 
have that use of you, if by reason of your health it 
could be done." And again : " What remembrance 
I have of you, you will have been able also to hear 
from our friend Septimius;* for it happened, that 
before him mention of you was made by me. Nor 
if you in pride have despised our friendship, do we 
therefore also despise in return." Besides often, 
among other jokes, he calls him " a most witty 
little man," and at the same time he enriched him 
with other liberality. His writings indeed he even 
so much approved, and thought that they would 
perpetually remain, that he enjoined not only the 

* Od II. «. Ep. I. 3. 9. 



Xll LIFE OF QUINTUS KOllATIUS FLACCUS. 

Secular Ode to be composed, but also tbe Vindeli- 
cian victory of Tiberius and Drusus,* bis stepsons : 
and compelled bim on account of tbis, after a long 
interval, to add a fourth book to tbe tbree books of 
odes : after certain of bis writings moreover being 
read, he tbus complained that no mention was made 
of himself : " Know you that I am angry with you, 
because you do not in more writings of the same 
sort speak chiefly with me. Do you fear, lest with 
posterity it should be disreputable to you, that you 
seem well known to us?" And he gave expression 
to an Eclogue,-j- the beginning of which is : 

" Since you alone sustain so many and so great occupa- 
tions, defend the Italian affairs by your arms, adorn 
them by your morals, emend them by your laws ; I should 
offend against the public interests, if I should trespass 
upon your time with a long discourse, Caesar." 

In habit of body Horatius was short and fat; 
such as he is described by himself in the Satires, J 

* Od. IV. 4. 14. t Ep. II. 1. % Sat. II. 3. 



LIFE OF QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS. Xlll 

and by Augustus in this Epistle : " Dionysius 
brought to me your little book, which I, that I 
may not blame its brevity, how little soever it is, 
take in good part. You seem however to me to 
fear, lest your books should be greater, than you are 
yourself. But if stature is wanting to you, body 
is not wanting. Therefore it will be allowable that 
you may write in sextariolo : since the circuit of 
your volume may be very bulky, as is that of 
your body." 

He lived mostly in the retirement of his Sabine 
or Tiburtine country seat : and his house is shewn 
near the grove of Tiburnus. . 

There have come into my hands both Elegies, 
under his name, and an Epistle in prose, as of 
one commending himself to Maecenas : but I con- 
sider both spurious, For the Elegies are vulgar, 
the Epistle also is obscure ; with which fault he 
was by no means chargeable. He was born on 



XIV LIFE OF QUTNTUS HORATIUS FLACCtfS. 

the sixth day of the Ides of December, when 
Lucius Cotta and Lucius Torquatus were Consuls*. 
He died on the fifth day of the Calends of De- 
cember, when Caius Marcius Censorinus, and Caius 
Asinius Gallus were Consuls-)-, after his seven and 
fiftieth year, Augustus having been openly named 
his heir, since the violence of his illness urging, 
he was not equal to signing his will. He was 
interred in the extremity of the Esquiliae, near the 
tomb of Maecenas. 

* U. C. 688. A.C. 63. t U. C. 745. A. C. 6. 



CONTENTS. 



ODES. 

BOOK I. 

PAGE 

Ode T. To Maecenas . ..... 1 

II. To Augustus Ctesar .... 2 

III. To Virgilius 4 

IV. To L. Sextius 

V. To Pyrrha 6* 

VI. To Agrippa ..... 7 

VII. To Munatius Plancus S 



XVI CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Ode VIII. To Lydia 9 

IX. To Thaliarchus 10 

X. To Mercurius ...... 11 

XI. To Leuconoe 12 

XII. To Augustus ..... 12 

XIII. To Lydia 14 

XIV. To the State 15 

XV. Nereus's Prophecy of the destruction of 

Troy 16 

XVI. A Recantation 17 

XVII. To Tyndaris . . . . " . .18 

XVIII. To Varus 19 

XIX. To Glycera 20 

XX. To Maecenas . . . . . 21 

XXI. On Diana and Apollo . . . .22 

XXII . To Ar istius Fuscus .... 22 

XXIII. ToChloe 23 

XXIV. To Virgilius 24 

XXV. To Lydia 24 

XXVI. Of .Elius Lamia .... 25 



CONTENTS. XV11 

PAGE 

XXVII. To Companions 26 

XXVIII. Archytas 27 

XXIX. To Iccius 28 

XXX. To Venus 29 

XXXI. To Apollo 29 

XXXII. To His Lyre 30 

XXXIII. To Albius Tibullus .... 31 

XXXIV. To Himself 31 

XXXV. To Fortune 32 

XXXVI. To Plotius Numida .... 34 

XXXVII. To Companions 35 

XXXVIII. To a Servant 36 



BOOK II. 

Ode I. To Asinius Pollio . . . .37 

II. To Crispus Sallustius ... 39 

III. ToDellius 39 

IV. To Xanthias Phoceus ... 41 

V. To Lalage 41 

VI. To Septimius 42 



XV111 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Ode VII. To Pompeius . . . . . 43 

VIII. To Barine 44 

IX. To Valgius 45 

X. To Licinius 46 

XI. To Quinctius 47 

XII. To Maecenas 48 

XIII. To a Tree . . . . . .49 

■ XIV, To Postunms 50 

XV. The Age 51 

XVI. To Grosphus 52 

XVII. To Maecenas ...... 54 

XVIII . The Covetous 55 

XIX. On Bacchus 56 

XX. To Msecenas 57 



Ode I. To Asinius Pollio .... 59 

II. To His Friends 61 

III. The Virtuous Man .... 62 



CONTEXTS. XIX 
PAGE 

Ode IV. To Calliope 64 

V. The Praises of Augustus ... 67 

VI. To the Romans 69 

VII. To Asterie 71 

VIII. To Maecenas 72 

IX. An Amcebsean Ode .... 73 

X. To Lyce 74 

XI. To Mercurius 75 

XII. ToNeobule 77 

XIII. To the Bandusian Fountain . . 78 

XIV. On the Return of Augustus from Spain . 78 

XV. To Chloris 79 

XVI. To Maecenas 80 

XVII. To ^Elius Lamia .... 82 

XVIII. To Faunus 83 

XIX. To Telephus 83 

XX. ToPyrrhus 84 

XXI. To His Ampbora .... 85 

XXII. To Diana 86 

XXIII. ToPhidyle 87 

XXIV. Against the Covetous . . . .87 



XX CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Ode XXV. To Bacchus 89 

XXVI. To Venus 90 

XXV1T. To Galatea 91 

XXVIII, To Lyde 94 

XXIX. To Maecenas 95 

XXX. His Presage of Immortality . . . 97 



BOOK IV. 

Ode I. To Venus 99 

II. To lulus Antonius . . . ; 100 

III. To Melpomene 102 

IV. The Praises of Drusus . . . . 103 
V. To Augustus 106 

VI. To Apollo 107 

VII. To Torquatus 109 

VIII. To Censorinus 110 

IX. To Lollius Ill 

X. To Ligurinus 113 

XI. To Phyllis 114 

XII. To Virgilius 115 



CONTENTS. XXI 

PAGE 

Ode XIII. ToLyce 116 

XIV, To Augustus 117 

XV. The Praises of Augustus . . .119 



EPODES. 

Ode I. To Maecenas 121 

II. The Praises of a Country Life . . 122 

III. To Maecenas . . . . .125 

IV. ToMenas 125 

V. Against Canidia the Witch . . 126 

VI. Against Cassius Severus . . .130 

VII. To the Roman People . . .130 

VIII. To Maecenas 131 

IX. Against Meevius a Poet . . . 133 

X. ToPettius 134 

XI. To His Friends 135 

XII. To Maecenas 136 

XIII. To Nesera 137 

XIV. To the Roman People . . . .138 

XV. To Canidia ... . 141 



XX11 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

THE SECULAR ODE 145 



SATIRES. 

BOOK I. 

atire I. To Maecenas 149 

II. Against Extravagancies . . - 153 

III. Against Detraction .... 157 

IV. An Apology ..... 164 
V. A Journey from Rome to Brundusiuni. 171 

VI. True Nobility 177 

VII. Rupilius and Persius . . .184 

VIII. Priapus and Canidia ... 186 

IX. An Impertinent 188 

X. Lucilius 193 

Bfe'OK II. 

Satire I. Horatius and Trebatius . . . 199 

II. Frugality 205 

III. Damasippus and Horatius . . . 212 

IV. Horatius and Catius .... 231 
V. Ulysses and Tiresias .... 236 



CONTENTS. XXUl 

PAGE 

Satire VT. Horatius 242 

VII. Qavus and Horatius . . . .248 
VIII. Nasidienus 254 

EPISTLES. 

BOOK I. 

Epistle I. To Maecenas ...... 260 

II. To Lollius 286 

III. To Julius Floras . . . . .270 

IV. To Albius Tibullus. . . .273 

V. To Torquatus 274 

VI. ToNumicius 276 

VII. To Maecenas 280 

VIII. To Celsus Albinovanus . . .286 

IX. To Claudius Nero .... 287 

X. To Fuscus Avistvus .... 288 

XI. To Bullatius 291 

XII. To Iccuis 293 

XIII. To Vinius Asella 295 

XIV. To His Steward .... 297 
XV. To Numonius Vala . . . .299 



XXIV CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Epis. XVI. To Quinctius 302 

XVII. To Scseva 307 

XVIII. ToLollius 311 

XIX. To Maecenas 31S 

XX. To His Book 321 



BOOK II. 

Epistle I. To Augustus 324 

II. To Julius Florus .... 340 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS, &c. . . 353 



ERRATA 



1, line 10 — 11, for threshing floors, read " threshingfloors." 

% line 21, for insert, read * set." 

— note *H,for insert-among, read " set-among. ' 

5, line 1,/or to raise or-if he wills to lay the waters, [read 

" whether he wills to raise or lay the waters." 

6, line 6 — 7, for of Cyclopes, read " of the Cyclopes." 
15, line 5, for imprinted, read " pressed." 

— , note *, for imprinted-on, read " pressed-on." 
^18, line IS, for Lycaeum for Lucretilis, read " Lncretilis for 
Lycseum." 

20, line 16 — 17, for Berycyntian, read " Berecyntian." 

21, line 11, for ye, read "ye" 

— , line 17,/or to you, read " to you." 

31, line 16, for freed woman, read "freedwoman." 

32, line 9 — 10, for the highest things for the lowest things 

read " the lowest thinas for the highest things." 

34, line 8, for . read "■ s" 

— , line 9, for let there be, read " let there be." 

37, line 8 — 9, for absent -fromf, read " absent+ from." 

— , note+, for Be-absent-from, read "be-absent." 

43, note §, for Hemettus, read " Hymettus." 

67, line 2, for woods, read "wood." 

74, note t, for pi and, read " planted." 

77, iine 13, for arsean, read " Liparsean." 

89, line 7, for stones, read " stones*" 
115, line 19, for shep, read "sheep." 
119, note tts for whenco, read " whence." 
131, line 1, for swods, read "swords." 
— , note **,for bands, read "hands." 
134 line 10, for stakes, read " shakes." 
148, line 3, for age, read " age||." 

— , line 4, for ||, read " V 

— , line 5, for % read " **." 

— , line 6, for ** read " f+" 

— , line 9, for f+, read " +£" 



II ERRATA. 

»AGE. 

149, line 6, omit the comma after Cl On." 

154, line 8, for Tondaridae, read " Tyndaridae." 

— , line 8, for ivided, read " divided." 

— , note f, for of Tyndaridae, read " of the Tyndaridae." 
159, line 20, for Scayrus, read " Scaurus." 
170, line 22, for being, read "bring." 
178, line 18, for **, read " *+." 
181, note §, for day, read " days." 
193, line 13, for years, read " ears." 
209, line 10, for *, read «§" 
212, note *t, for abroa, read "abroad." 

214, note ++, Jor Why not, read " Why-not." 

215, line 8, for #o-off, read "go-off." 

— , note §, for made jest, read " made a jest." 

216, line 4 t for you, read "you." 

221, note || should precede note If. 

222, note f*, for Stertinus, read " Stertinius." 

233, line 25, for with-what-sort-of, read " with what-sort-of.' 

234, line 11, for be restored, read " be-restored ." 
243, note %, for pinque, read " pingue." 

249, note ||, for uniformly, read e ' ununiformly." 

271, line 20, the comma at the end of the line should be a period 

277, line 6, omit the period after the first word. 

280, line 1, for Mimnerimus, read " Mimnermus." 

282, line 12, for reseek to the, read " reseek the." 

292, line 14, for land, read "laud." 

293, note J, for hope, read " home." 

299, line 7, for wood**, read " wood** ++." 
306, note*, for Throw over, read " Throw- over." 
312, line 7, for takes-up-his, read " takes-up his." 

318, line 7, for by-his, read " by his." 

319, line 2, for in-its, read " in its." 

341, line 20, for threw-down, read " he threw-down." 

344, line 23 — 4, for a rhetorician brother of a lawyer, read " a 

brother of a lawyer, a rhetorician." 

345, line 14, for and, read " an." 

354, line 3, for Painters, read " Painters. 
373, line 3, for Albinus, read " Albinusf." 



In May, 1844, was Published, 

THE 

MIDDLE SYSTEM 

OF 

TEACHING CLASSICS; 

A 

MANUAL 
FOR 

CLASSICAL TEACHERS. 

BY 
THE REV. H. P. HAUGHTON, B.A. 

RECTOR OF MARKFIELD, LEICESTERSHIRE ; 

FORMERLY QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SCHOLAR, AND 

HULMIAN EXHIBITIONER, OF BRAZEN NOSE COLLEGE. 



LONDON: 

J. W. PARKER AND SON. WEST STRAND. 



CRITIQUES ON THE "MIDDLE SYSTEM." 

" Doing justice to the main principle of the Hamil- 
tenian system of teaching languages, (which, after all, 
was merely the revival of what had been recommended, 



ii Critiques on the " Middle System*" 

if not partly acted upon, two centuries before,) Mr. 
Haughton suggests a via media, which would combine 
the advantages of that system with a synthetical and 
analytical mode, which would directly bring the mental 
faculties into play, and inform the reason without fa- 
tiguing or overtasking it. 

" The development of the system, which is full of inte- 
rest, is too extended for us to attempt a transfer to our 
columns. We are not willing, either, to venture on an 
analysis of it ; but an opinion we may give, and it is 
this — that, provided qualified teachers could be trained 
to give instruction exactly on the principle, and in the 
manner Mr. Haughton lays down, we believe the study 
of languages would be greatly facilitated, with a great 
abridgment of the time now employed inlearning them." 
— Oxford University Herald. 

"This is a treatise remarkable for its originality and its 
utility. It proposes a newly modified system of teaching 
the classics, which considering the time lost at ordinary 
schools in teaching them imperfectly or abortively, must 
always be a desideratum." — Cambridge Advertiser. 

"The hints contained in this little volume, in the hand 
©f the intelligent teacher, will prove useful in shortening 
the way to a knowledge of the Greek and Latin lan- 
guages. The author has adopted a course well calculated 
to gain confidence. He does not pretend to form a 
scholar without labour — and make men masters of the 
science of grammar in twelve lessons. He assumes no- 
thing that is not practicable, though it may be at vari- 
ance with the modes of Eton, and Harrow, and Win- 
chester." — Atlas. 



Critiques on the " Middle System." iii 

" The system put forth by Mr. Haughton is certainly a 
rational one, it appeals to common sense, and takes na- 
ture for its guide. We do not doubt that it is capable of 
extensive application in schools and private families, 
and that it would produce the invaluable results he 
claims for it," — Critic. 

" There is a great deal of useful matter in the book 
which will commend itself at once to every intelligent 
teacher, who, whatever may be his acquirements and 
experience, will find it well worthy of an attentive pe- 
rusal." — Church Intelligencer. 

"Mr. Haughton regards the Eton and Westminster sys- 
tem of teaching classics as an extreme on the one hand, 
and the Hamiltonian system as an extreme on the other. 
He therefore proposes a " Middle System," which he 
expects will combine the advantages of both, without 
the more serious inconveniences of either ; and the object 
of the present volume is to explain in detail how this 
system may be worked. 

" The manly and modest tone in which he advances his 
views is very commendable — the more so because real or 
imaginary discoverers of new systems are too frequently 
egotistical and dogmatical. Mr. Haughton has evidently 
bestowed much thought upon education, and his " Man- 
ual" deserves the candid consideration of teachers of 
classics." — Watchman. 

"We have carefully examined this little work, andean 
with perfect confidence assert that it will be found a 
most desirable auxiliary in initiating youth into a know- 
ledge of the classics. As such, we, therefore, safely re- 



iv Critiques on the "Middle System. 1 " 

commend it to all to whom lias been entrusted the deli- 
cate and responsible task of moulding the youthful mind 
of the age. After a few well reasoned remarks on the 
advantages derivable from an acquaintance with the 
classics — a very hacknied question, but one on which he 
has had the fortune to advance much that is new — the 
Reverend Author proceeds to review the modes of tuition 
pursued at some of the leading seats of instruction in 
England, such as Eton and Westminster, and with clear- 
ness and modesty presents his own views of amendment, 
which must claim the respect even of those who differ 
from him, as the production of a highly cultivated mind 
and an enlarged experience. His hints on the subject of 
translating will be found both novel and excellent, and 
the remarks on Syntax, Collocation, Parsing &e., may 
be consulted with much service by public and private 
tutors. In a word, * The Middle System' is entitled to 
take its place in every seminary among the standard 
works dedicated to the education of the young." — Dublin 
World. 

" There can be no doubt that the system the author re- 
commends has many advantages, which are ably ex- 
plained in this treatise, and we are certain it will lead 
to much practical benefit, if adopted and carried out 
with due caution and consideration. Mr. Haughton's 
work deserves an attentive and thoughtful perusal ; it is 
evidently the result of much experience and reflection ; 
and we think he merits the thanks of every friend to 
classical education for his contribution to the cause of 
learning." — Edinburgh Journal. 

11 This is one of the best books of the kind we have ever 
seen, and we welcome it not only as a very interesting 



Critiques on the " Middle System" v 

contribution to philological literature, but as calculated 
to facilitate the acquisition of classical learning in a re- 
markable degree. The author, unlike most University 
men, who, if not wedded to worn-out forms of tuition, 
yot viow with horror any the least departure from what 
they consider the ' regular' routine, has boldly struck 
out a peculiar path, which ought to be the one univer- 
sally adopted in our schools. We have s»id that the plan 
indicated by Mr. Haughton is a peculiar one, and so it is, 
for, without either abandoning anything that is valuable 
in the older and more wearisome way of teaching classics, 
or introducing any startling and fanciful novelties, he 
blends experience and discovery in one harmonious 
whole, with thoughtful, and we must add successful 
moderation. The accuracy and completeness of the Rev. 
gentleman's system is striking. His own unpretending 
description of it falls far short of its merits. — Welsh- 
man. 

" We have read with some curiosity and much care this 
little treatise. It has always been a surprise to us that 
no one could be found to step boldly forward, and at 
once condemn our present system, not by a simple decla- 
ration of its mischief and inutility, but by a plan boldly 
broached to supersede it, and candidly imparted for trial 
and examination. We are truly pleased to find Mr. 
Haughton has undertaken the task of remodelling the 
course of a classical education. It is an arduous task 
certainly, to reform the Schools, and persuade pedagogue 
and tutor that tho dry and rugged path they toiled over 
can be changed for one with less asperities. A change 
of plan implies much trouble ; still ' nil sine mac/no 
vita labore dedit mortalibus\- and the reward pro- 



vi Critiques on the " Middle System." 

raised by Mr. Haughton is worth it : to render a diligent 
boy of common intelligence capable of passing his exami- 
nation for his first Degree at Oxford within a year and a 
half, while his general education shall not be neglected. 
This is a great undertaking, but, looking at the system 
proposed, we think it very possible, and recommend it 
to general attention." — County Chronicle. 

" We have read this little treatise with very great in- 
terest. As a proof of his confidence in his system, and of 
its capability to impart a sound knowledge of Greek and 
Latin, Mr. Haughton offers to guarantee that any youth 
possessing the preparedness mentioned in the system, of 
common intelligence, and who is willing to apply, shall 
be qualified by it for passing the previous public exami- 
nation of the University of Oxford, within the space of 
one year ; and the subsequent and ordinary examination 
for the first Degree, within half a year more ; while his 
general education shall not be neglected ! From the 
author's intimate knowledge of the principles of teaching, 
and his masterly treatment of the subject, we have no 
doubt that he would be able to redeem the guarantee 
above given. We confidently recommend the simple and 
unpretending, but valuable little treatise under review, 
to the instructors of youth." — Eastern Counties Herald. 

I t " We have much pleasure in introducing this little book 
to the notice of our readers generally, and particularly 
to such of them as are engaged in the work of education. 
It is evidently a work of considerable talent — the pro- 
duction of a gentleman of great ability and experience, 
— and is likely to become eminently and generally useful. 



Critiques on the "Middle System." vii 

We have perused it with more than ordinary interest and 
care, and we have no doubt at all, that if the system of in- 
struction which it developes, he hut fairly tried, it will ho 
found to realize all the advantages which its author pro- 
mises from it. It offers such facilities for attaining to a 
knowledge of the classics, as those only can adequately 
appreciate who have thought seriously of tbe immense sa- 
crifices of time and labour which are demanded by the 
ordinary systems of instruction, and which, after all, in 
a vast number of instances, lead to anything but a satis- 
factory result." — Western Luminary. 

"It is most gratifying to meet with a book like this, 
written, too, by a clergyman of the Church of England, 
an elegant classical scholar, and a graduate of Oxford. 
Reform in classical education has always moved very 
slowly, and the ancient and venerable Eton and West- 
minster system of teaching a boy to learn by rote a 
string of words before he knows the meaning of them, 
and flogging him handsomely to sharpen his intellect, 
has always found such a host of admirers and approvers, 
that any man who propounded a common sense system 
in opposition to this, was almost certain to be set down 
as a quack or an impostor. Mr. Haughton can by no 
possibility come under either of these denominations, 
and yet he puts forth a system as different from the 
Eton and Westminster as light is from darkness. It is 
certain that any teacher who has the strength of mind 
to fling off prejudice, and be guided by his own reason, 
will approve of this plan. It is too comprehensive to 
admit of our going into detail. We must recommend 
the book itself to all interested in classical education, 
assured that none will be displeased with it who are 



viii Critiques on the " Middle System" 

not blinded by prejudice or whose self interest does not 
wish them to make the path to knowledge as long and 
wearisome as possible. Without hyperbole or exaggera- 
tion, having attentively looked into Mr. Haughton's book 
and weighed his arguments, we feel justified in saying 
that he has done a great public service, by the publica- 
tion of this modest unpretending little book." — Western 
Times. 

" A careful perusal of the entire work warrants us in 
saying, that, we consider the promises held out, to be 
fully realised : and with this favourable opinion we beg 
to recommend it to all interested, as a useful and well- 
written book/' — Northern (Star. 

"This is a small neat volume designed as a guide to the 
teaching of language, whether that of our own, or those 
of foreign nations. By following out the system, with 
the various modes of teaching which the author suggests, 
he asserts that 100 long lines of Latin verse may be 
translated, and two preceding portions of 100 lines each 
read over, within the space of three hours, by a pupil 
who has commenced Latin only a few weeks ! If this 
can be done, and^the pupil understand what be read, 
then is the system of Mr. Haughton an excellent one. 
And we are inclined to think it is. On the whole, we, 
highly approve of * The Middle System,' and recom- 
mend it to those interested in the subject. Indeed, 
this, as compared with the old snail-paced systems, is 
like one person coming from London on the railway, 
and another walking it ; the railway gentleman certainly 
has not the exercise of him on foot : but will anyone 
say that he is not, notwithstanding, immeasurably the 
gainer ?"— Northern Times. 



Critiques on the "Middle System." ix 

" The little treatise before us is written in the spirit of 
the proverb, via media tutissima, and in a clear and in- 
telligible manner shews the advantages which would 
arise from an intermediate course between the Etonian 
and Hamiltonian systems. We regret our want of leisure 
to give an abstract of this publication, which for the 
originality and conclusiveness of its arguments deserves 
the special and attentive consideration of all persons 
engaged in classical instruction. By its means the 
labour of the teacher will be curtailed in the proportion 
of three to one, and teaching itself will become a pleasure; 
while, on the part of the pupil, one twelvemonth of 
agreeable study will amply suffice to acquire that to 
which seven or eight years have hitherto been reluctantly 
and unprofitably devoted. We heartily congratulate the 
author of the "Middle System" upon the great boon he 
has conferred upon those who, while they duly estimate 
the languages in which Homer and Virgil wrote, do not 
consider them the only things to which the mental en- 
ergies of youth should be directed." — Sussex Express. 



tt The author of this little work has evidently made the 
subject upon which he writes one of much thought and 
inquiry. To those engaged in the training up of the 
rising generation in the varied branches of a classical 
education, it presents some hints which will be found 
extremely useful ; nor to these only, since the general 
principles it contains are such as may be successfully 
applied to every department of public instruction. We 
wish Mr. Haughton the success which his work 23roves 
him to be worthy of." — Churchman's Mayazine. 



x Critiques on the a Middle System?' 

" Mr. Haughton's little work is likely to form, as far as 
we can judge, a valuable manual for classical teachers, 
as giving them certain fixed principles on which to pro- 
ceed in this tuition, which is too often without any plan 
whatever. The work is entitled the ' Middle System,' 
* because it takes a middle place among other systems ; 
embracing their advantages and rejecting their disad- 
vantages, while it modifies and adds.' " — Christian's 
Monthly Magazine and Review. 

"By the Middle, Mr. Haughton means a modified and 
new system, viz. something about half-way between the 
Westminster and Eton extreme on the one had, and the 
Hamiltonian on the other. Now, we do think that he 
advances no mean claims as an originator ; at least, to 
us several of his principles are quite new ; while in the 
very rejection, modification, and addition, he manifestly 
has exercised not only a great amount of ingenious 
thought, but patiently tested the points in his practice. 
We look upon many of his suggestions as being happily 
striking ; nor in the perusal of the exposition of his 
system, can either pupil or tutor remain unconvinced 
and unprofited. That system is essentially; analytical ; 
but it cannot be understood, much less appreciated, with- 
out a thorough examination of the pages in which it is de- 
scribed and developed. 

" Nothing in the little treatise pleased us more than 
the method insisted on by Mr. Haughton, of translating 
the learner's language into that which he is acquiring, 
instead of the old practice of translating the language to 
be acquired into that of the learner. 

w We conscientiously recommend to attention and trial 
this ' Middle System.' " — Monthly lieview. 



THE FIRST BOOK 



THE ODES. 



ODE I. 

TO MAECENAS. 

O Maecenas, descended-from ancestors kings, both 
a patronage*, and my sweet honor! there are many 
men whom it-delights to have collected Olympic 
dust in the chariotcourse, and the goal avoided by 
fervid f wheels, and the ncble palm exalts to the 
Gods the rulers of the lands %. 

This man it-delights, if a crowd § of moveable || 
Quirites % vies to raise him to triple honors. 

That man it-delights, if he has stored-up in his- 
own granary, whatever is-swept from Libyan thresh- 
ing floors. 

The man delighting to cleave with the hoe 
paternal fields, you never could remove** with the 
conditions ff of Attalus, that in a Cyprian bark, as a 
timid sailor, he should cut the Myrtoan sea, 

* Patron. + Glowing. J World. § Assembly. || Fickle. 
11 Romans. ** Induce. tt Circumstances, riclies. 



I THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

The merchant dreading Africus* struggling with 
the Icarian waves, praises the ease and fields of his 
town: presently he refits his shattered vessels, indo- 
cile to bear poverty. 

There is another man who disdains neither cups 
of old Massic wine, nor to take-away f a part from 
the solid J day, now lying as-to his limbs under 
the green arbutus, now at the placid head of a sacred 
stream. 

Many men camps delight, and the sound of the 
trumpet intermingled with the clarion, and wars 
detested by mothers. — The hunter, unmindful of his 
tender wife, remains under cold Jupiter §, whether a 
hind has been seen by faithful dogs, or a Marsian 
boar has broke the strong nets. 

Me ivies the rewards of learned brows mingle with 
the gods above : me the cool grove, and light dances 
of Nymphs with Satyrs, separate || from the people : 
if neither Euterpe withholds pipes, nor Polyhymnia 
refuses to stretch the Lesbian lyre. 

But if you insert me among ^[ the lyric poets, / 
shall strike the stars with my lofty head. 



ODE II. 

TO AUGUSTUS CESAR. 

Now the Father has sent enough of snow, and dire 
hail to the lands**, and with a red righthand having 

* A south-west-wind. t Spend. % Entire. § In the cold air. 
|| Distinguish. f Inserts.— Insert-an.ong. ** Earth. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. S 

struck the sacred temples, terrified the city : he has 
terrified the nations, lest the grievous age of Pynha 
should return, complaining-of new prodigies; when 
Proteus drove all his herd to visit the high moun- 
tains ; and the race of fishes stuck in the top-of the 
elm, which had been a seat known to doves; and 
the timid deer swam in the thrown-over* water. 

We have seen the yellow Tiber, his waves being 
violently turned-back by the Etruscan shore, go to 
overthrow the monuments of the Kingf, and temples 
of Vesta; while he boasts himself the excessive 
avenger of complaining Ilia, and wandering glides 
on the left bank, Jupiter not approving, an uxodous 
river. 

The youth thin % by the vice of parents shall hear 
that the citizens have whetted the sword, by which 
the troublesome Persae might better perish; and 
hear-of battles. 

Which of the Gods should the people invoke to the 
affairs of the falling Empire? with what prayer 
should the sacred virgins fatigue § Vesta less hearing j| 
hymns^I? to whom shall Jupiter give the parts of 
expiating wickedness ? 

At-length mayest thou come, we pray, covered 
with a cloud as-to thy shining shoulders, augur 
Apollo; or-if thou are more- willing, smiling Ery- 
cina**, whom Sport flies-round, and Cupid ; or-if thou 
respectest thy neglected race, and descendants, found- 
er, alas ! satiated with too long sport, whom clamor 

* Overwhelming. t Numa. J Thinned. § Importune. 

|| Regarding. H Prayers. ** Venus. 



4 THE FIRST BOOK OP ODES. 

delights, and polished helmets, and the sharp look of 
the Marsian infantry against the bloody enemy : or- 
if thy figure being changed thou counterfeitest a 
youth on the lands* winged son of chaste Maia, 
suffering to be called the avenger of Caesar: late 
mayest thou return to the sky, and long joyful 
be-present to the people of Quirinusf; neither 
may a too-speedy blast take-away thee unequal to J 
our vices: here rather mayest thou love great tri- 
umphs, here mayest thou love to be called Father, 
and Prince, nor suffer the Medes to ride unpunished, 
you being leader, Csesar. 



ODE III. 

TO VIRGILIUS §. 

So may the powerful Goddess of j| Cyprus, so may the 
brothers of Helen, bright stars, and the father of the 
winds the others being tied-up«f[, except Iapyx **, 
direct you, O ship, who owest Virgilius§ intrusted to 
you to the Attic borders, /pray, that you may deliver 
him safe, and preserve the half of my soul. 

He had oak and triple brass around the breast, 
who first committed a frail vessel to the rough sea, 
nor feared the headlong Africusff contending with the 
AquilonesJJ, nor the mournful Hyades§§, nor the rage 
of ]\ T otus HI], than which there is not a greater ruler 

* Earth. + Romulus. X Offended by. § VirgiL 

|| Oi, Goddess ruling-over. IF Confined ** A west- -wind. 

trOd. 1. XX North-winds. §§ Stars. II II The south-wind. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 5 

of Hadria* to raise or-if he wills to lay the waters. 
What kind of death has he feared, who with direct 
eyes beheld swimming monsters, who beheld the 
swollen sea, and the infamous rocks, the high Ce- 
raunia ? 

In-vain has a prudent God cut-off the lands by 
separating Oceanusf, if notwithstanding impious 
vessels bound-over waters not to-be-touched. 

The human race daring to undergo all things 
rushes through forbidden wickedness. 

The bold offspring of Iapetus by evil fraud brought. 
in fire to the nations. After fire drawn-down from 
the ethereal house, Leanness, and a new train of 
Fevers brooded-upon the lands ; and the slow neces- 
sity of death before remote hastened its step. 

Daedalus essayed the void air with wings not 
given to man. 

Herculean labor broke-through Acheron. 

Nothing is arduous to mortals : we assail heaven 
itself through folly, nor by our wickedness suffer 
Jupiter to lay-aside angry thunderbolts. 



ODE IV. 

TO L. SEXTIUS. 

Sharp winter is-relaxed by the agreeable vicissitude 
of spring and FavoniusJ, and machines draw§ the 
dry keels ||; and neither does the herd now delight 

* The Adriatic. t The separating ocean. X A west-wind 

§ Diavf-dow)i- to-sea. |[ Ships. 

b3 



6 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

in the stalls, or the ploughman in the fire, nor do the 
meadows become-white with hoary frosts. 

Now Cytherean Venus leads the dances, Luna* 
hanging-over : and the comely Graces joined to the 
Nymphs shake the ground with alternate foot, while 
ardent Vulcanusf inflames the laborious forges of 
Cyclopes | . 

Now it-is-fit to encircle the shining head either 
with green myrtle, or the flower, which the relaxed 
lands bear. Now also it-is-fit to sacrifice to Faunus 
in shady groves, whether he may demand lhat-you 
sacrifice with a lamb, or prefer that-you sacrifice with 
a kid. 

Pale Death strikes the cottages of poor persons, 
and the towers of kings, with impartial foot. 

O blessed Sextius, the short sum of life forbids 
that-we entertain long hope. Soon night § will press || 
you, and the fables % the Manes, and the thin house 
of Pluto ; where as-soon-as you shall have passed, 
neither shall you allot the dominions of wine ** by 
dice, nor admire the tender Lycidas, with whom now 
all the youth grows- warm, and soon the virgins will 
be-warm. 

ODE V. 

TO PYRRHA. 

"What slender youth among many a rose perfumed 

with liquid odors caresses you, O Pyrrha, in a plea- 

* The moon. t Vulcan. t Cyclops. § Death. || Surprise- 

IT Fabulce. — For fabulosi, much-talked-of. 

** The office of toast-master. 



TILE FIRST EOOK OF ODES. 7 

sant grot ? For whom do you bind-up your golden 
hair simple in your neatness * ? 

Alas, how often he shall bewail your faith, and 
changed Gods, and unaccustomed marvel-at the seas 
rough with black winds, who now credulous enjoys 
you amiable; who hopes that-you will be always free, 
always amiable, ignorant of the fallacious gale ! 

Miserable are they to whom you untried look-fair! 

The sacred wall by a votive tablet demonstrates 
that-I have suspended wet garments to the powerful 
God off the sea. 



ODE VI. 

TO AGRIFPA. 

You brave, and a victor of your enemies, shall be 
described by Varius, a bird % of Mseonian song, singing 
whatever thing in ships, or on horses, a fierce sol- 
diery, you being leader, shall have done. 

We small§, O Agrippa, attempt to describe neither 
these great things, nor the heavy anger of Pelides, 
unknowing-how to yield, nor the voyages of crafty 
Ulyxesjl through the sea, nor the cruel house of Pe- 
lops: while modesty, and the powerful Muse of 5[ the 
unwarlike lyre forbids to diminish the praises of ex- 
cellent Csesar and your praises by defect of genius. 

Who worthily should have described Mars pro- 
tected by an adamantine tunic ? or Meriones black** 

* Mundltiis.— Plural number. + Or, God ruling-over. % Poet. 

§ Humble ivriters. || Ulysses. 

% Or, the Muse ruling-over, ** Blackened. 



8 THE FIEST BOOK OF ODES. 

with Trojan dust ? or Tydides by the aid of Pallas 
equal to the upper-gods ? 

We free* or- whether we anything are enamored, 
sing banquets, we sing the battles of virgins, sharp 
against youths with drawnf nails, not trifling more- 
than what is customary. 



ODE VII. 

TO MUNATIUS PLANCUS. 

Othees shall praise famous RhodosJ, or Mitylene, or 
Ephesus, or the walls of Corinthus§ lying-bet ween- 
two-seas, or Thebse|| distinguished by Bacchus, or 
Delphi by Apollo, or Thessalian Tempe. 

There are some who have one employment, to ce- 
lebrate in endless song the temples of chaste Pallas, 
and put-before the brow the olive gathered thence. 

Many a one, to the honor of Juno, celebrates Argos 
adapted for horses, and rich Mycenae. 

Me neither so-much patient Lacedsemon, nor so- 
much the plain of fruitful Larissa has struck, as the 
house of resounding Albunea, and the headlong Anio, 
and the grove of Tiburnus, and the orchards moist 
with moveable % rivulets. 

As the serene Notus oft drives-away the clouds 
from the obscure sky, nor brings-forth perpetual 
showers: so do you wise remember to put-an-end-to 
sadness and the toils of life by mild wine, O Plan- 

* Free from love. t Outstretched. J Rhodes. 

§ Corinth. | Thebes. r Ductile. 



THE FIRST B003\. OF ODES. 9 

cus; whether camps glittering with standards detain 
you, or the dense shade of your Tibur shall detain 
you,. 

When Teucer fled Sal amis and his father, yet he 
is reported to have bound his temples moist with 
Lysean wine with a poplar crown, thus addressing 
his sorrowful friends : " Wherever Fortune better 
than my parent shall carry us, we will go, compa- 
nions and followers. Nothing is to-be-despaired-of 
Teucer being-leader, and Teucer being- assistant *; 
for certain Apollo hath promised, that Salamis in a 
new land shall-be ambiguous. brave men, and 
having suffered worse things with-me oft, now do 
ye drive-away cares with wine : tomorrow we will 
return-upon the vast sea." 



ODE VIII. 

TO LYDIA. 



O Lydia, say you, by all the Gods I pray you, why 
hasten you by loving to ruin Sybaris ? 

Why should he hate the sunny plain, though 
patient-of the dust and sun ? Why does he neither 
soldier-like ride between equals, nor manage Gallic 
mouths f with jagged curbs ? Why fears he to touch 
the yellow Tiber ? "Why shuns he olive-oil more-cau- 
tiously than the blood of vipers ? nor now carries his 
arms livid with weapons, oft ennobled by the quoit, 

* Under the auspices of Teucer t Steeds. 



10 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

oft ennobled by the javelin hurled beyond the limit? 
Why lurks he, as they say that-the-son of marine 
Thetis did, a-little-before the mournful funerals of 
Troy, lest his manly dress might hurry him away* 
into slaughter and the Lycian troops ? 



ODE IX. 

TO THALIARCHUS. 

You see, in how deep snow white Soiacte stands, nor 
can the laboring woods now sustain the burden, and 
the rivers have stagnated with sharp frost. 

Dissolve you the cold, bountifully laying logs upon 
the hearth ; and more-liberally draw-out, O Thaliar- 
chus, the four-years-old wine from the Sabine diota f. 

Commit you the rest J to the Gods : who as-soon-as 
they have stilled the winds battling with the boiling 
sea, neither the cypresses, nor the old ashes are agi- 
tated. 

What may be about-to-be tomorrow, avoid you to 
inquire : and every day Fortune shall grant, set-down 
for gain : neither disdain you sweet loves, while a 
youth, neither do you disdain dances ; while morose 
hoariness§ is-absent-from you vigorous. 

Now let both the Campus, and the arese ||, and soft 
whispers a-little-before night be-repeated at the ap- 

* Proriperet.— Hurry-away. t A wine-ressel -with two handles. 

X Cetera. — Adverbially. § Old-age. ii Open-places. 



THE FIRST BOOTv OP ODES. 11 

pointed hour: now too the agreeable laugh the be- 
trayer of the lurking girl from the innermost * cor- 
ner, and the token torn-away-from her arms, or 
linger scarcely holding-fast. 



ODE X. 

TO MERCURIUS f. 

O Mercury, eloquent grandson of Atlas, who wise 
hast formed the wild habits of new J men by speech, 
and the practice of the graceful palaestra § : thee /will 
sing, the messenger of great Jupiter and the Gods, 
and the parent || of the curved lyre ; cunning to con- 
ceal in a jocose theft, whatever hath pleased thee. 

Thee, a boy, while with threatening voice he terri- 
fies, unless thou hadst restored the oxen lately re- 
moved by wile, stripped-of his quiver Apollo smiled. 

Moreover too, rich Priamus^I, Ilium** being left- 
behind, you being leader, escapedff the proud Atridee, 
and the Thessalian fires, and the camps hostile to 
Troy. 

Thou placest JJ pious spirits in joyful seats, and 
keepest-together the light crowd with a golden wand, 
agreeable to the upper Gods and lowest §§ Gods. 

* Most-secret. t Mercury. J Newly-created. 

§ A place for wrestling, and other exercises. || Inventor. 

IT Priam. ** Troy. tt EscapeA-the-notice-of. 

tt Reponis. — Vor ponis. §§ Lower. 



12 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

ODE XL 

TO LEUCONOE. 

You should not have inquired*, it-is not-right to 
know, what end the Gods may have granted to me, 
what end the Gods may have granted to you, O Leu- 
conoe ; nor should you have tried f the Babylonian 
numbers. 

How-much better is-it, whatever shall be, to bear I 
whether Jupiter has bestowed more winters, or this 
the last, which now breaks the Tyrrhenian sea with 
opposing rocks. 

You should be wise, you should rack your wines, 
and cut-off long hope from the short space \. 

While we are speaking, envious time shall have 
fled. 

Enjoy you the day, trusting as little-as-possible to 
the following day. 



ODE XII. 



TO AUGUSTUS. 

What man, or hero do you choose to celebrate with 
the lyre or the clear pipe, O Clio ? What God do 
you choose to celebrate ? whose name shall the spor- 
tive echo resound, either in the shady borders of 

* Mind that you have not inquired, 
t And mind that you have not tried. 
—Vp <;hort space of life. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 13 

Helicon, or upon Pindus, or in cold Hsemus? whence 
the woods confusedly followed-after tuneful Orpheus, 
by his maternal art retarding the rapid courses of 
rivers, and swift winds, and charming with melodious 
strings to lead the listening oaks. 

What sooner should / celebrate than the usual 
praises of the Parent, who governs the affairs of men 
and Gods, who governs the sea and lands, and the 
world with various seasons? Whence* nothing is 
generated greater than himself, nor anything like 
exists, or second : nevertheless Pallas hath acquired 
the honors next to him. 

Neither thee will / pass-in-silence, O Liberf, bold 
in combats, and thee, O Virgin unfriendly to savage 
beasts : nor thee, O Phcebus to-be-dreaded with cer- 
tain arrow. 

/ will celebrate also Alcides, and the sons of Leda, 
this famous to surpass with horses, and that famous 
to surpass with fists : whose bright star as-soon-as it 
has shonej to the sailors, the agitated water flows- 
down from the rocks; the winds subside, and the 
clouds pass-away; and, for thus they willed, the 
threatening wave reclines in the sea. 

After these, I doubt, whether first I should com- 
memorate Romulus, or the quiet reign of Pompilius, 
or the proud fasces § of Tarquinius, or Cato's noble 
death. 



* By whom. + Bacchus. J Appeared. 

§ Rods carried before Romau magistrates, with an axe bound up 
in the middle of them, so as to appear at the top. 



14 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

/ grateful will celebrate with distinguished Muse * 
Regulus, and the Scauri, and Paullus prodigal of his 
great soul, the Carthagenian overcoming, and Fabri- 
cius. Him, also Curius, with unkempt locks, useful 
in war, and Camillus, severe poverty, and an ar.ces- 
tral farm, with a suitable house, produced. 

The fame of Marcellus increases, like a tree in 
secret f time. The Julian sidusj shines among all 
the fires % like Luna|| among the lesser fires §. 

O father and preserver of the human race, de- 
scended-from Saturn, to thee the care of great Caesar 
has-been given by the fates, thou mayest reign 
Caesar being second. He, whether he shall have led 
the Parthians threatening Latium having been sub- 
dued in a just triumph, or the Seres and Indians 
lying-on the coast of the East, less than thee, with- 
equity shall rule the wide world: thou shalt shake 
Olympus with thy heavy car; thou shalt hurl thy 
thunderbolts unfriendly to groves not chaste. 



ODE XIII. 

TO LYDIA. 

When you, O Lydia, praise Telephus's rosy neck, 
and the waxen arms of Telephus, alas! my burning 
liver swells with obstinate choler. Then neither my 
mind, nor color remains in a certain situation : and a 

* Distinguishing Song. + Insensibly-passing. i Constellation. 
§ Stars. || The Moon. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 15 

tear insensibly glides over my cheeks, showing, how 
inwardly / might be wasted by slow fires. 

/ am pained, whether quarrels immoderate by 
wine have discolored your fair shoulders; or a youth 
in-fury has imprinted a reminding mark with his 
tooth on* your lips. 

Not, if you should sufficiently listen-to me, can you 
hope that-he will-be constant, barbarously hurting 
sweet lips, which Venus hath imbued with a fifth 
part of her-own nectar. 

Happy thrice and more are those, whom an un- 
broken bond binds, and which love torn- asunder by 
miserable quarrels shall not f dissolve sooner than 
the last day. 



ODE XIV. 

TO THE STATE. 

O ship, shall new waves carry you back| to sea ? O 
what are you doing ? bravely seize you the port. 

Do you not see, that your side i* bare-of oars§, and 
your mastt's wounded by the swift Africus||, and your 
sail-yards groan? and without cables your keels can 
scarcely endure a more-imperious sea? 

You have not entire sails: you have not God3, 
whom again having been oppressed by misfortune 
you may invoke : though a Pontic pine, daughter of 
a noble wood, you may boast both your race and 
useless name. 

* Impressit. — Imprinted-on. t Nee. — And-not. 

X Referent.— Cau j -back. § JRemigium.— Singular number. || Od. I. 



16 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

The timorous sailor trusts nothing to painted sterns. 

Do you, unless you owe a laughing-stock to the 
winds, beware. 

May you who were lately an anxious weariness to 
me, now an object-of- desire, and not a light care, 
avoid the seas flowing-between the shining Cycladse*. 



ODE XV. 

NEREUS's PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF TROY. 

When the perfidious shepherd took over the seas in 
Idsean ships Helenef his hostess, Nereus suppressed 
the swift winds with an ungrateful % calm, that he 
might sing the cruel fates: " With an evil bird§ you 
lead home her, whom Grsecia || shall demand-back 
with many a soldier, having sworn-together to 
destroy your nuptials, and the old kingdom of 
Priamus^I. 

" Alas, how-great sweat is-at-hand to horses, how- 
great sweat is-at-hand to men ! how-many funerals 
you are-causing to the Dardan nation ! Now Pallas 
is-preparing her helmet, and aegis**, and chariots, 
and rage. 

"In-vain, fierce ff in the patronage of Venus, you 
will comb your hair, and with the unwarlike harp 
distribute songs agreeable to women: in-vain will 
you shun spears terrible to the nuptial- couch, and 
the points of the Gnossian reed J J, and the din, and 

* Cyclades. f Helen. \ Unwelcome. § 111 omen. il Greece. 
If Od. 10. ** Shield. tt Fierce-looking. tJ Arrow. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 17 

Ajax swift to follow: yet, alas! though late you 
shall defile your adulterous locks with dust. 

" Do you not respect Laertiades, the destruction of 
your nation, do you not respect Pylian Nestor ? 

" You Salaminian Teucer, you Sthenelus skilled-in 
fight, or-if there is occasion, to manage horses, not a 
slow charioteer, intrepid press. Meriones also you 
shall know. Lo, bold Tydides, better* than his 
father, rages to discover you : whom you, as a stag 
flies a wolf seen in another part of a valley unmindful 
of the grass, effeminate shall fly with deep panting ; 
not having promised this to your mistress. 

"The angry fleet of Achilles shall defer the day for 
Ilium f, and the matrons of the Phrygians: after 
certain winters Achaian fire shall burn the Perga- 
meanj houses." 



ODE XVI. 

A RECANTATION. 

O daughter more-beautiful than your beautiful mo- 
ther, you will put whatever end you shall wish to my 
criminal iambics; whether it-pleases you to put them 
in the flame, or in the Adriatic sea. 

Not Dindymene, not the Pythian inhabitant in the 
shrines shakes the mind of the priests, not Liber § 
equally, not the Corybantes if they redouble their 
shrill cymbals, as sad resentments: which neither 

* Braver. + Ocl. 10. \ Trojan. § Od. 12. 

c3 



18 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

the Noric sword deters, nor the ship- wrecking sea, 
nor fierce fire, nor Jupiter himself rushing in tre- 
mendous tumult. 

Prometheus is-reported, having been constrained 
to add to the first clay * a particle cut-off from-all- 
partsf, also to have applied the raging lion's vio- 
lence to our stomach. 

Resentments overthrew Thyestes with grievous 
destruction, and have-been the last J causes to lofty 
cities, why they perished utterly §, and the insolent 
army imprinted-upon their walls the hostile plough. 

Compose you your mind: me also fervor of soul 
tempted in sweet youth, and sent raging to hasty 
iambics || : now I seek to change angry things for 
mild things; so-that my scandals being recanted 
you may become friendly to me, and restore your 
affection. 



ODE XVII. 

TO TYNDARIS. 

Nimble Faunus oft exchanges pleasant Lycaeum for 
Lucretilis ^[ ; and always averts the burning heat 
from my she-goats, and the rainy winds. 

The wandering wives** of the smelling husbandff 

* The clay with which he began to make the first man. 

t From every animal. J Final. § From-the-foundation, 

II Poetical feet of one short and one long syllable — verses in iambics. 

Tf Common construction requires Lucretili Lyceeum. 

** She-goats. tt He-goat. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 19 

securely seek through the safe grove the hidden 
strawberry-trees and thyme : neither do the little- 
kids dread the green lizards, nor the wolves of Mars* : 
whenever, O Tyndaris, the vallies, and smooth rocks 
of sloping Ustica, have resounded with the sweet 
pipe. 

The Gods protect me: my piety and Muse is to the 
heart off the Gods. 

Here plenty rich-in the honors of the country shall 
flow to you to the full with a fruitful horn. Here in 
a remote vale, you .shall avoid the heats of Cani- 
cula I : and with the Teian lyre sing Penelope and 
beauteous Circe striving for one lover. Here you 
shall quaff cups of innocent Lesbian wine under the 
shade : nor shall Semeleian Thyoneus mingle com- 
bats with Mars : nor suspected shall you dread petu- 
lant Cyrus, lest he should lay his incontinent hands 
on you miserably § unequal, and rend the chaplet 
adhering to your locks, and your undeserving || 
garment. 



ODE XVIH. 

TO VARUS. 

O Varus, you will^j have planted no tree rather than 
the sacred vine, about the fruitful soil of Tibur, and 

* Sacred-to-Mars. f Lies at the heart of,— that is, is agreeable to. 

IJThe Dog-star. § Very. |) Undeser\ iv.g-of-harm, innocent. 

f I hope you will. 



20 THE FIRST BOOK OP ODES. 

the walls of Catilus. For the God* hath presented 
all things hard to sober perso?is ; nor do biting soli- 
citudes otherwise disperse. 

Who after wines complains-of grievous warfare or 
poverty ? Who does not rather celebrate thee, O 
Bacchus father, and thee, O comely Venus ? 

But, lest anyone should exceed the gifts of mode- 
rate Liberf, the quarrel of the Centaurs with the 
Lapithse admonishes having been fought over wine 5 
Evius* not gentle to the SithoniiJ admonishes, 
when greedy of lusts they distinguish right and 
wrong by a narrow limit. 

I will not shake thee § unwilling, candid Bassa- 
reus * ; nor drag into day-light things covered with 
various leaves ||. 

Restrain you the fierce timbrels with the Bery- 
cyntian horn, which blind Love of self follows, and 
Vanity holding-up her empty head more than too- 
much 5[, and Faith prodigal of a secret, more-trans- 
parent than glass. 



ODE XIX. 

TO GLYCERA. 

The cruel mother of the Cupids commands me, and 
the son of Theban Semele commands me, and las- 
civious Licence commands me, to give -back my mind 
to ended loves. 

* Bacchus. t Od. 12. | Thracians. § Wave the sacred vessels. 
Ii The sacred things covered with leaves— mysteries, f Very much. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 21 

The beauty of Glycera inflames me, shining more- 
brightly than Parian marble : her agreeable wanton- 
ness inflames me, and countenance too unsteady to be 
beheld. 

Whole Venus rushing upon me hath deserted Cy- 
prus; neither does she suffer that-I should sing the 
Scythians, and the Parthian spirited his horses being 
turned*, nor those things which nothing appertain 
to me. 

Here place ye a live turf f for me, here, G slaves, 
place ye vervains and frankincense, with a goblet of 
two-years-old wine : she will come more-gentle a 
victim being sacrificed. 



ODE XX. 

TO M.ECENAS. 

You shall drink common Sabine wine from moderate 
canthari J, which I myself have sealed having been 
stored in a Grecian cask §, when applause was given 
to you in the theatre, illustrious knight Maecenas, 
so-that the banks of your paternal river, and at-the- 
same-time the sportive echo of the Vatican mount 
returned the praises to you. You shall drink the 
Caecuban grape, and the grape subdued by the Cale- 
nian wine-press : neither do the Falernian vines, nor 
the Formian hills fill my cups. 

* The Parthians shot their arrows on horseback, while retreating. 

t Fresh turf for an altar. \ Drinking-vessels-with-haudles. 

§ Of earthenware. 



22 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

ODE XXL 

ON DIANA AND APOLLO. 

O tender Virgins, sing ye Diana : boys, sing ye 
unshorn Cynthius : and Latona beloved deeply by 
supreme Jupiter. Do ye extol her delighting in 
rivers, and the foliage of groves, whatever projects 
either from cold Algidus, or the black woods of 
Erymanthus, or green Cragus : do ye, males, extol 
Tempe with as-many praises, and the natal Delos of 
Apollo, and his shoulder distinguished by his quiver 
and fraternal lyre. 

He, moved by your prayer, shall drive mournful 
war, he shall drive miserable famine, and the plague, 
from the people, and their prince Caesar, to the Per- 
sians and Britons. 



ODE XXII. 

TO ARISTIUS FUSCUS. 

The man uncorrupt of life*, and pure of wickedness, 
needs not Moorish javelins, nor bow, nor quiver heavy 
with poisoned arrows, Fuscus : whether about-to- 
make a journey through the hot Syrtes, or over the 
inhospitible Caucasus, or the places which fabulous f 
Hydaspes licks. For, while I sing my Lalage, and 
cares being dispelled wander beyond my bound, a 

* Integer vitas.— Instead of fir integrce vita. \ Much-talked-of. 



THE FIRST BOOK OP ODES. 23 

wolf in the Sabine wood fled-from me unarmed : 
such a monster as* neither the warlike Daunian land 
nourishes in its wide oak-forests, nor the land of 
Juba the arid nurse of lions produces. 

Place you me, in sterile plains where no tree is 
refreshed by the summer breeze ,' in that quarter of 
the world which quarter clouds and a bad Jupiterf 
oppresses : place you me under the chariot of the too 
neighbouring sun, in a land denied houses: / will 
love Lalage sweetly smiling, sweetly speaking. 



ODE XXIII. 

TO CHLOE. 

You shun me like a fawn, O Chloe, seeking its 
timorous mother in the pathless mountains, not with- 
out a vain dread of breezes and the wood. For 
whether a briar has rustled with leaves moving 
before the wind, or the green lizards have stirred 
the bush, she trembles both in heart and knees. 

But I do not, as a savage tigress, or Gaetulian lion, 
pursue to tear you to pieces J. 

At-length do you fit for a husband leave-off to fol- 
low your mother. 

• Quale. — Such-as. 

t A bad Air. 

t Frangere. — To-tear-to-picces. 



24 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODFS. 

ODE XXIV. 

TO VIRGILIUS*. 

What disgrace can there be or measure to the regret 
of so dear a head f ? 

Prompt you mournful songs, Melpomene, to whom 
the Father % hath given a clear voice with the harp. 

Does then a perpetual sleep oppress Quinctilius ? to 
whom when will Modesty, and the sister of Justice, 
incorruptible Faith, and naked Truth find any equal ? 

He died to-be-lamented by many good men : by 
no man more-to-be-lamented, than you, O Virgilius*. 

You though pious, alas ! in vain ask Quinctilius of 
the Gods not having been so lent. Since if you could 
tune the lyre listened-to by trees more-charmingly 
than Thracian Orpheus, blood can not return to the 
empty form, which Mercurius§, not gentle by prayers 
to unclose the fates ||, shall once have driven with his 
horrid wand to the dark flock. 

Hard it-is ! But whatever is impracticable to 
correct, becomes lighter by patience. 



ODE XXV. 

TO LYDIA. 

Wanton young-men more-seldom shake your closed 
windows with frequent knocks, nor take-away slum- 
bers from ^f you : and your door loves the threshold, 
which before very easy moved its hinges. 

* Od. 3. t Person. J Jupiter. § Od. 10. 

|i To open the way again to life. *i Adimunt.— Take-away -from. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 25 

You hear less and less now : " While I thine am 
perishing the long nights, Lydia, do you sleep?" 

In- turn you a worthless old- woman, in a solitary 
alley, will bewail arrogant lovers, the Thracianwind 
raging more at the interlunia* : when burning desire, 
and lust, which uses to infuriate the mothers f of 
horses, shall rage about your ulcerous liver ; not with- 
out a complaint, that cheerful youth should delight 
more in the verdant ivy and dark myrtle : but dedi- 
cate dry leaves to Eurusj. the companion of Hyems§. 



ODE XXVI. 

OF JELIUS LAMIA. 

Friendly to the Muses, / will deliver-up sadness 
and fears to the wanton winds to carry into the Cre- 
tan sea : singularly careless, by whom a king of the 
cold region under Arctos || may be dreaded, what 
may terrify Teridates. 

sweet Pimpleis, who delightest in fresh fountains, 
entwine you sunny flowers, entwine you a chaplet 
for my Lamia ; my honors are nothing able^f without 
you: to immortalize him with new strings**, to im- 
mortalize him with the Lesbian quill + +, becomes both 
you and your sisters. 

* The periods between the old and new moons. t Dams. 

t The east-wind. § Winter. 

|| The constellation of the Bear— the north. IT Possunt— Are-able. 

** Strains. ft For striking the lyre— the lyre itself. 

D 



26 THE FIRST BCOK OF ODES. 

ODE XXVII. 

TO COMPANIONS. 

To fight with cups born * for the use of mirth, is a 
Thracian practice : take ye away the barbarous prac- 
tice, and protect modest Bacchus from bloody fight- 
ings. It-is wonderful how-much the Median scyme- 
ter disagrees with wine and lamps ! Hush ye the 
impious clamor, companions, and remain on pressed 
elbow f. 

Do ye wish that-I also should take a share of severe J 
Falernian winel let the brother of Opuntian Megilla 
say, with' what wound § he is happy, with what arrow 
he may be-perishing. Is the will wanting |j ? / will 
not drink on other condition. Whatever Venus ^1 
subdues you, burns with flames not-to-be-ashamed- 
of, and you always offend with an ingenuous love. 
Whatever you have, come you, deposit you it in safe 
ears. — Ah, miserable youth, in how-great a Cha- 
rybdis are you laboring** ! youth worthy of a bet- 
ter flame ! What witch, what magician with Thes- 
salian sorceries, what God shall be able to loose you ? 
Scarcely will Pegasus extricate you entangled from % \ 
the triple-formed Chimsera. 

* Made. t Elbow resting on the couch. 

\ Sharp. § Of Love. | Cessut. — Is-wanting. 

1T Love. ** Laboras— Are-laboring. 

XX Expediet. — Extricate-from. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 27 

ODE XXVIII. 

ARCHYTAS. 

Sailor. Archytas, the small gifts* of a little dust 
near the Matinian shore confine youf, the measurer 
of sea and land and the sand wanting number J : nor 
does it anything profit you about-to-die to have ex- 
amined the aerial houses, and in mind run- over the 
round globe. 

Archytas. Even the father of Pelops hath died, a 
guest of the gods, and Tithonus removed to the skies, 
and Minos admitted to the secrets of Jupiter : and the 
Tartara§ have Panthoides ||, again sent-down to Or- 
cus^J; though, having testified-to Trojan times by 
his unfixed shield, he had yielded nothing beyond 
nerves and skin to gloomy Death ; you being judge, 
not a mean master of nature and truth. But one 
night**, awaits all, and the path of death is once to- 
be-trod. The Furies give some as spectacles to stern 
Mars : the greedy sea is a destruction to sailors : the 
mingled funerals of old-men and young-men are- 
crowded-together; cruel Proserpine flees ff no head. 
Notus the rapid companion of setting Orion over- 

* The want of the small, &c. 

t Unless dust or sand was thrice sprinkled upon an unburied 
body, the shade wandered on earth. 

X Which is without number. § Infernal regions. 

|| The son of Panthous, Euphorbus or Pythagoras, who declared 
that, in the Trojan war, he was Euphorbus, challenging a shield, in 
a temple, as the one he had worn in the war, and which bore the 
name of Euphorbus. 

IT Pluto. ** Death. ft Passes-by. 



28 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

whelmed me also in the Illyrian waves. — But do not 
you, sailor, malignant spare to give a small-portion 
of loose sand to my bones and unburied head : so, 
whatever Eurus* shall threaten the Hesperian waves, 
the Venusinian woods may be-lashed, you being safe, 
and may much recompense, whence it can, flow- 
down to you from just Jupiter, and Neptune the 
guardian of sacred Tarentum. Are you negligentf to 
commit a crime about-to-hurt ?/owr undeserving! chil- 
dren after you ? An accident and due laws and 
haughty retributions may await you yourself: I shall 
not be-left with unrevenged§ prayers : and no sacri- 
fices will release you. Though you haste, the delay is 
not long, it-will-be-permitted that you may run dust 
being thrice cast upon me. 



ODE XXIX. 

TO ICCIUS. 

O Iccius, do you now envy the blessed treasures of 
the Arabians, and prepare fierce warfare for the kings 
of Sabsea not before conquered, and forge chains for 
the horrible Mede ? 

What barbarian virgin, her bridegroom being slain, 
shall serve you? What boy from the court with 
perfumed locks shall be-stationed at the cup, taught 
to direct Seric arrows with paternal bow ? 

* Od. 25. t Negligis. —Are-negligent. 

% Undeserving-o/-/«arm, innocent. 
§ Unheard for the sake of vengeance. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 29 

Who can deny that the prone rivers can glide-back 
to the lofty mountains, and Tiber can return, when 
you intend to exchange the noble books of Pansetius 
bought-up on-every-side, and the Socratic house*, for 
Iberian coats-of-mail, having promised better things ? 



ODE XXX. 

TO VENUS. 

O Venus, queen of Gnidos and Paphos, spurn thou 
beloved Cypros, and transfer thyself into the adorned 
house of Glycera invoking thee with much frankin- 
cense. 

Let thy fervid Sonf , and the Graces with loosed 
zones, and the Nymphs hasten with-thee, and Youth 
not courteous without thee, and MercuriusJ. 



ODE XXXI. 

TO APOLLO. 

What does the poet ask-of the dedicated Apollo § ? 
What does he ask, pouring new wine from the bowl ? 
Not the rich crops of fertile Sardinia ; not the goodly 
herds of hot Calabria ; not gold, or Indian ivory ; not 
the countries, which Liris, a silent river, bites|| with 
its quiet water. 

* School of Socrates t Cupid. I Od. 10. 

§ Apollo, to whom a temple had been dedicated. || Wearg-geutly. 

d3 



30 THE FIRST BOOK OP ODES. 

Let those prune with the Calenian hook the vine, 
to whom Fortune hath given it : and let the rich mer- 
chant drink-out-of golden cups wines purchased with 
Syrian* merchandise, dear to the gods themselves ; as 
three-times and four-times in a year revisiting the 
Atlantic sea without-loss. 

Me let olives feed, me let succories feed, and light 
mallows. 

O Latousf, may you grant to me both in-health to 
enjoy the tilings prepared J, and, / pray, with a 
sound mind ; and-not to lead a base old-age, nor lack- 
ing the lyre§. 



ODE XXXII. 

TO HIS LYRE. 

We are-called-upon : — if at-leisure under the shade 
we have played anything with-you, which may live 
both for this year, and many years, — come you, play 
you a Latin ode, O lyre, first tuned by the Lesbian 
citizen ||; who fierce in war, yet amidst arms, or- 
if he had bound his tossed ship on the wet shore, 
sung Liberal, and the Muses, and Venus, and Iter 
Son ** always adhering to her, and Lycus, handsome 
with black eyes and black hair. 

O lyre ft? ornament of Phoebus, and welcome to 

* So called, because brought by Syria, 
t Apollo, son of Latona. % Acquired. § Skill-in-music— poetry. 

|| Alcaeus. IT Od. 12. ** Od. SO. 

ft Testudo. — Because partly in the shape of a tortoise-shell, or 
because frequently made of tortoise-shell. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 31 

the feasts of supreme Jupiter, sweet alleviation 
of toils, be you propitious* to me whenever}- duly 
invoking you. 



ODE XXXIII. 

TO ALBIUS TIBULLUS. 

O Albius, grieve not you more than too-much,| 
mindful of cruel Glycera, nor chant mournful 
elegies, because her faith being violated a younger 
man outshines you. 

Love of Cyrus scorches Lycoris distinguished by 
a small forehead, Cyrus turns-away towards rough 
Pholoe : but she-goats sooner shall be-joined to Ap- 
pulian wolves, than Pholoe can offend with a base 
adulterer. So it-/m^i-seemed-good to Venus : whom 
it-pleases to send unlike forms and minds under 
brazen yokes with cruel sport. 

Me myself, when* a better Venus§ courted, the 
freed woman Myrtale, more-violent than the waves 
ofHadria|| curving the Calabrian bays detained with 
cm agreeable fetter. 



ODE XXXIV. 

TO HIMSELF. 

A sparing and unfrequent worshipper of the Gods, 
while / wander the professor of an insane philo- 

* Salve.— Be-pL'opitious. 
i Cunque.— For quandocimque, J Od. 18. § Love. ||Od. 3. 



32 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

sophy,* now / am-compelled to set sails backwards, 
and return-upon my relinquished courses. For Dies- 
piterf, with flashing fire generally dividing the 
clouds, has driven his thundering horses and rapid 
chariot through a pure sky : by which the sluggish 
earth, and wandering rivers, by which Styx, and the 
horrid seat of hated Tsenarus, and the Atlantean 
boundary is-shaken. 

The Godf is-able to exchange the highest things for 
the lowest things, and brings-low the distinguished 
ma?i, raising obscure things. Hence rapacious For- 
tune has carried-away the diadem with shrill whiz- 
zing, here she dilights to have placed it. 



ODE XXXV. 

TO FORTUNE. 

O Goddess, who rulest agreeable Antium, ready 
either to raise a mortal body from the lowest 
grade, or turn proud triumps to funerals : thee 
the poor cultivator of the country solicits with 
anxious prayer ; thee mistress of the sea, whoeve 
essays the Carpathian sea with Bithynian keel 
solicits. Thee the rough Dacian, thee the fleeing 
Scythse §, and cities, and nations, and fierce 
Latium , and the mothers of barbarian kings, an 

* Epicurism. t Jupiter. § Scythians. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 33 

purple * tyrants dread, lest with injurious foot you 
should overthrow the standing column f, and-lest 
the people assembled should excite those hesitating, 
to arms, to arms, and break the empire. Thee 
cruel Necessity always precedes, carrying large 
spikes \ and wedges % in her brazen hand, neither is 
the cruel hook J absent §, and the liquid lead J. Thee 
Hope reveres, and rare Faith veiled in a white gar- 
ment : nor refuses herself as a companion, whenever 
thy garment being changed thou unfriendly leavest 
powerful houses. But the unfaithful vulgar, and 
perjured harlot goes backwards: casks with the 
dregs being dried, friends, too deceitful to bear the 
yoke equally, flee-away. 

Mayest thou preserve Caesar about-to-go against 
the Britons the farthest of the world, and the recent 
swarm || of youths, to-be-feared by the Eastern parts, 
and red Oceanus %. 

Ah, / am-ashamed of the scars and wickedness 

and brothers. What have we a hard age fled-from ? 

what have we wicked left untouched §§ ? whence 

has our youth restrained the hand from fear of 

' the Gods ? What altars has it spared ? 

O would-that with a new anvil thou wouldst forge- 
anew the blunted sword against the Massagetse and 
Arabians. 

* Purple-clad. 

t Pillar of power, support, safety of the empire. 

J Symbolical of power. § Abest. — Is-abseut. 

|| Company, levy, 

1T The red Sea— the Erythraean or Indian sea. 

§§ Unhurt, undefiled. 



34 THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 

ODE XXXVI. 

TO PLOTIUS NUMIDA. 

Both with frankincense, and the strings,* and the 
due blood of a calf, it-delights me to appease the 
Gods the guardians of Numida, who now, safe from 
farthest Hesperiaf, distributes many kisses to dear 
companions, yet gives to no one more kisses, than 
sweet Lamia, mindful of childhood spent not another 
being kmg,J and the toga§ changed together. 

Let not the fair || day want a Cretan mark % . nor 
let there be measure of the jar brought -forth, nor 
after the manner of the Salii** rest of feet : and let 
not ft Damalis of much winetj conquer Bassus with 
the Thracian amystis§§: neither let roses be- wanting 
to the feasts, nor the long-lived parsley, nor the 
short-lived lily. 

All persons will set languishing eyes on Damalis ; 
nor will Damalis, more-encircling than wanton ivies, 
be-torn-away-from her new lover. 

* Lyre. 

t Spain, distant, or farthest, as farthest west, to distinguish it 
from Italy, also called Hesperia. 

J Under the same tutor. 

§ Tae boy's gown changed for the man's gown at the beginning of 
the seventeenth year. 

|| Lucky. 

1T The Romans marked lucky days with white, or chalk, the pro- 
duction of Crete, and unlucky days with black 

** Priests of Mars, who made dancing part of their worship. 

TT Neu. — And-not. 

XX Capable of drinking much, &c. - 

§§ A mode of drinking without closing the lips. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF ODES. 35 

ODE XXXVII. 

TO COMPANIONS. 

Now it-is to-be-drunk by us*, now with free foot the 
earth is to-be-beat, f now was the time to adorn 
the couch of the Gods with SalianJ meats, O Com- 
panions. 

Before-now it would have been an impiety to draw- 
forth Ceecuban wine from§ the ancient cellars, while 
for the Capitol the queen || was-preparing mad ruins, 
and a funeral % for the Empire, with a contaminated 
herd of men offensive from disease, weak to hope-for 
anything, and drunk with sweet fortune. 

But scarcely one ship safe from the flames dimi- 
nished her fury : and her mind maddened with Mare- 
otic wine Csesar brought- back to true fears, pressing- 
upon her fleeing from Italy with oars; as a hawk 
pursuing tender doves, or a swift hunter pursuing 
the hare in the plains of snowy Haemonia : that he 
might give to** chains the fatal monster ; who, seek- 
ing to perish more-nobly, neither womanishly be- 
came-frighted-at a sword, nor with her swift fleet 
repaired-to hidden shores ; she dared both to behold 
her lying §§ palace with a serene countenance, and 
was sufficiently brave to handle exasperated serpents, 
that with her body she might imbibe the dark 
venom; more-fierce death being deliberated-upon j 

* We must drink. t Must be beat. 

X Salian-like, sumptuous. § Depromere. — To draw-forth-from. 

I! Cleopatra. H Destruction. ** Put in. §§ Overthrown. 



36 THE FIRST BOOK OP ODES. 

not a humble woman, truly disdaining to be led- 
away as a private person by fierce Liburnians in a 
proud triumph. 



ode xxxvm. 

TO A SERVANT. 

/ hate, boy, Persian preparations ; chaplets bound 
with philyra* displease me ; forbear you to search, 
in what place a late rose may linger. Careful of 
trouble you should add-with-labor nothing to simple 
myrtle; neither you a servant does myrtle misbe- 
come, nor me drinking under a closef vine. 

* The inner bark of the linden-tree. t Thick, shady. 



THE SECOND BOOK 



THE ODES. 



ODE I. 

TO ASINIUS POLLIO. 



You are treating-of the civic commotion from Me- 
tellus trie consul,* and the causes of the war, and 
the vices, and the measures, and the sport of Fortune, 
and the grievous alliances of princes, and arms, 
smeared with gore not-yet expiated, a work full of 
dangerous hazard : and you are treading-upon fires 
put-under deceitful ashes. 

Let the muse of severe tragedy be a little absent- 
fromf the theatres : soon, when you shall have ordered 
public affairs, you shall resume the grand office with 
the Cecropian % buskin §, distinguished patronage || 
of mournful criminals, and a consulting senate, O 
Pollio, to whom the laurel produced eternal honors 
in the Dalmatic triumph. 

* From the time of, &c. t Desit.— Be-absent-frcm. 

X Athenian, from Cecrops, the first king of Athens. 
§ Worn by tragedians— tragedy. H Patron, defender. 

E 



38 THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 

Even now* with the threatening murmur of horns 
you stun our ears : now the clarions sound : now the 
glitter of arms terrifies the fleeing horses, and the 
countenances of horsemen. Now I seem to hear-of 
great leaders sordid with dust not indecorous,f and 
all countries subjected, except the stern soul of Cato. 

Juno, and whoever of the Gods more-friendly to 
the Africans had impotent retired, the land beiDg un- 
avenged, rendered the descendants of the conquerors 
sacrifices to Jugurtha.J 

What plain more-rich by Latin blood does not by 
sepulchres attest our impious battles, and the sound 
of the ruin of Hesperia§ heard by the Medes ? What 
gulf, or what streams are ignorant of our mournful 
war? what sea have not the Daunian|| slaughters 
discolored ? What coast is-free-from our blood ? 

But, O petulant Muse, do not you, jokes being 
relinquished, treat-of the subjects of the CeanH 
Nsenia : ** wdth-me in a Dionean ff grot seek you 
measures of a lighter quill \\. 

* Even now, §-c. — The poet anticipates the effect, on his mind, o^ 
Pollio's history, 
t Dishonorable. 

J The troops of Cato were sacrificed to the manes of Jugurtha. 
§ Italy, from Hesperus the evening-star. 
I! Of Daunus, Apulian, Italian. 

IT Referring to Simonides, of Ceos, who wrote elegy. 
** Goddess of funerals, a funeral song, dirge. 
H Of Dione, or, Venus, daughter of Dione. 
U Od. I. 26. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 39 

ODE II. 

TO CRISPUS SALLUSTIUS. 

Silver has no color * hid in the covetous lands,f 
Crispus Sallustius, enemy to bullion, unless it shines 
with temperate use. 

Proculeius will live in an extended age, known 
of paternal affection to his brothers : him surviving 
fame shall bear with a wing dreading to be-relaxed. 

You may reign more-widely by subduing a greedy 
spirit, than if you should join Libya to the remote 
Gades, and each Carthaginian \ should serve you 
alone. The direful dropsy indulging itself increases, 
nor drives-away thirst, unless the cause of the dis- 
ease hath fled from the veins, and the watery lan- 
guor from the pale body. 

Phraates restored to the throne of Cyrus, Virtue, 
differing-from the vulgar, excepts from the number 
of the blest persons, and unteaches the people to use 
false words ; conferring the kingdom and safe § diadem 
and proper || laurel upon 1 !! the one, whoever views vast 
heaps with eye not-turned-back. ** 



ODE III. 

TO DELLIUS. 

Remember you in arduous circumstances to preserve 
an even mind, not otherwise in good circumstances 

* Beauty, value. t Earth. J In Africa, and Spain. § Secure. 

|| Belonging to one only. IT Deferens.— Conferring-upon 

** Not like envious people. 



40 THK SECOND B001C OF ODES. 

one restrained from insolent joy, O Dellius about-to- 
die*, whether at every time you shall have lived 
mournful, or made yourself happyf reclined in the 
remote grass through festive dajs with the innerj 
mark§ of Falernian wine. 

Where the lofty pine, and white poplar love to 
join-together a hospitable shade with their boughs, 
and the running water strives to hasten in the crooked 
river : hither order you to bring wines, and un- 
guents, and the pleasant flowers of the too short-lived 
rose, while circumstances, and age, and the dark 
threads of the three Sisters || suffer. 

You shall depart from your purchased groves, and 
house, and villa, which the yellow Tiber laves : you 
shall depart, and an heir enjoy the riches heaped-up 
to a height. Whether you may be a rich man de- 
scended from ancient Inachus, nothing does-it-differ, 
or a poor man, and of the lowest clan, you may live 
under the open-sky, a victim of Orcus^I nothing com- 
miserating. 

We all are -driven to-the -same-place : the lot of all 
is-shaken in the urn, later or sooner about-to-come- 
out, and place us on** the boat for eternal exile. 

• Who must die. 
+ Bearis. — Made-happy. 

X Descriptive of the position in the wine-cellar, to distinguish 
from other kinds. 
§ Denoting the vintage. 
|| The Parcae, or Fates. 
•f Od. 1. 28. 
** Impositura. — Place-on. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 41 

ODE IV. 

TO XANTHIAS PHOCEUS, 

Let not the love of your maid be a shame* to you, O 
Xanthias Phoceus ! 

Beforef, the slave Briseis with snowy color moved 
insolent Achilles : the form of the captive Tecmessa 
moved her master Ajax descended-from Telamon: 
Atrides burned in the middle-of triumph a virgin 
being seized, after-that the barbarian troops fell by 
the Thessalian conqueror, and Hector taken-off 
delivered-up Pergama X easier to be -taken by the 
wearied Greeks. 

You may not-know, whether the blest parents of 
the golden Phyllis may honor you a son-in-law : 
certainly her race is kingly, and she mourns unkind 
Penates§. Believe you not that-she was selected for 
you from the wicked vulgar; nor that-she so faithful, 
so averse to lucre, could be-born-of a mother to-be- 
ashamed-of. 

Her arms and face and fine legs / unbiassed praise : 
forbear you to suspect one, whose age has trembled 
to close the eighth lustrum||. 



ODE V. 

TO LALAGE, 

NoT-yet is she able1[ to bear the yoke with a subdued 

* A thing to be ashamed of. t Formerly. t Troy. 

$ Laments the unkindness of her Family-gods. 
B A purifying sacrifice, every five years, whence for that period. 
% Valet.— Is-able. 

E 3 



42 THE SECOND BOOK OP ODES. 

neck, not-yet is she able to equal the duties of a 
partner. 

The mind of your heifer is about verdant plains, 
now soothing the grievous heat in the rivers, now 
greatly-desiring to play with calves in the wet 
willow-ground. 

Putyow away* the desire of an unripe grape: soon 
varied Auctumnusf will distinguish for you the livid 
clusters with a purple color. 

Soon she wftl follow you ; for fierce agej runs, and 
will put-to tfer, the years which it shall have taken- 
away-from you : soon with shameless forehead Lalage 
will seek a husband, beloved, so-much-as was not 
fleeing Pholoe, so-much-as was not Chloris, so shining 
with white shoulder, as the pure moon shines in the 
nocturnal sea, or Gnidian Gyges, whom if you should 
insert in a company of girls, the difference obscure by 
loosed hairs, and ambiguous countenance, wonderfully 
might deceive sagacious strangers. 



ODE VI. 

TO SEPT13I1US. 

Septimius, about-to-go-to Gades with-me, and the 
Cantabrian untaught to bear our yokes, and the bar- 
barous Syftes, where the Mauritanian wave always 
boils : O-thatTibur, founded by the Argean§ colonist||, 

* Tolle— Put-away, t Autumn. I Time, which nothing can stay. 
§ Argeo— For Argivo. Argive. || Tiburnus or Tiburtus. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES.- 43 

may be the seat of ray old-age ; that it may be the 
measure* to me wearied of sea, and roads, and warfare. 
Whence if unkind Parcsef prohibit me, I will seek the 
river of Galsesus delightful to the sheep covered- with- 
skinj, and the countries ruled by Laconian Phalantus. 
That angle of the lands pleases me beyond all, where 
the honies do not yield to Hymettus§, and the berry 
vies-with verdant|| Venafrum ; where Jupiter affords 
a long spring, and tepid winters ; and Aulon friendly^! 
to fertile Bacchus** leastft envies Falernian grapes. 
That place and blest hills demand you with-me : 
there you shall sprinkle with a due tear the warm 
ashes of a poet friend. 



ODE VII. 

TO POMPEIUS. 

O often reduced with-me to the last timeJJ, Brutus 
being leader of the warfare, who has restored you a 
Quiris§§to your country's Gods, and the Italian sky, 
Pompeius, first of my companions ? with whom i" 
oft have broke the lingering day with wine, crowned 
as-to mohairs shining with Syrian|j|| malobathrum^. 
With-you/have felt*f Philippi, and a swift flight, 

* Limit, t Fates, t To protect the fleeces. § Those of Hemettus. 

|| That of verdant, &c. IT Favorable ** The vine. 

tt Not in the least. 

II Space of time, day of life,— utmost peril. §§ Od. I. 1. 

HII Od. I. 31. ITU An Indian tree producing oil,— the oil itself. 

*t Experienced. 



44 THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 

my little-buckler being not well* left-behind ; when 
Valor was broke, and menacing men touchedf the foul 
soil with the chin. But swift Mercury carried-away 
me afraid through the enemies in dense air : you the 
resorbing wave with boiling waters carried back into 
war. Therefore render you to Jupiter the due feast, 
and deposit your side wearied by long warfare under 
my laurel, and spare not| the casks destined for you. 
Fill you up§ the polished ciboria || with oblivious 
Massic : pour you unguents from capacious shells. 

Who takes-care to hasten crowns of moist parsley 
or myrtle ? Whom will the Venus^y pronounce master 
of drinking** ? 

I will not revel more-sanely than the Edoni : it-is- 
delightful to me to-be-mad a friend being received. 



ODE VIII. 

TO BARINE. 

If any punishment of a perjured right had ever hurt 
you, Barine ; if you should become more-ugly ff by a 
black tooth, or one nail, / might believe you. But 
you, as-soon-as you have bound your perfidious head 
with vows, shine-forth more-beautiful by-much, and 
come-forth the public care of young-men. 

* Ingloriously. t Came to, fell and s: ruck. J Nee. — And-not. 

§ Exple.— Fill-up. 
j| From Ciborium, an Egyptian bean, a cup, like it, or made of it. 
II. The best cast with dice, &c. ** Toast-master, tt Rather-ugly. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 45 

It-is-expedient to deceive the buried ashes* of your 
mother, and the silent constellations* of the night 
with the whole heaven*, and the Gods* free -from cold 
death. I say, Venus herself laughs-at this, the sim- 
ple nymphs laugh, and cruel Cupid, always sharpening 
ardent arrows with a bloody whetstone. Add you, 
that all the youth increases for you, a new servitudef 
increases ; nor do former slaves leave the house of 
their impious mistress, though oft having threatened. 

You mothers dread for their young-men, you 
sparing old men dread, and miserable virgins lately 
married, lest your air| should retard their husbands. 



ODE IX. 

TO VALGIUS. 

Showers not always are flowing from the clouds upon 
the rough fields : or do unequal storms continually 
vex the Caspian sea ; nor in the Armenian coasts, O 
friend Valgius, does the motionless ice stand through 
all the months ; or do the oak-forests of Garganus 
always labor with the Aquilones§, and the ashes 
always are-widowed-of leaves. 

You always are urging with lamentable measures 
Mystes taken-off ; nor at Vesper rising|| do your loves 
depart, nor fleeing^]" rapid Sol**. 

But the old-manf f, thrice having enjoyed an age^, 

* By which she swore. t Set of slaves, lovers. 

J Favor, beauty— attraction. § Od. I. 3. || Morning. IT Evening. 

** The Sun. tt Nestor. 

XX Lived three generations, about a hundred years. 



46 THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 

bewailed not amiable Antilochus all his years ; nor 
have his parents, or the Phrygian sisters always 
bewailed beardless* Troilus. 

Do you leave-off at- length soft complaints: and 
rather let us sing the new trophies of Augustus Caesar, 
and rigidf NiphatesJ, and that-the-river Medus§, added 
to the conquered nations, rolls less whirlpools|j ; and 
the Geloni ride within a prescribed boundary^ in 
their small** plains. 



ODE X. 

TO LICINTUS. 

You will live more-rightly, Licinius, neither 
always by urging the deep, nor, while cautious you 
dread storms, too-much pressing the unequal shore. 

Whoever selects golden mediocrity, safe is-free- 
from the sordidnesses of an obsolete Toof, and sober 
is-free-from the hall to-be-envied. 

The vast pine more-severely is-agitated by the 
winds : and high towers fall-down with a heavier 
fall : and lightnings strike the highest mountains, ft 

A well prepared!! breast§§ hopes in adverse circum- 
stances, and dreads in prosperous circumstances 
another lot. 

Jupiter brings-back deformed winters, the same 
removes them. Not, if it-is ill now, will it also 

* Youthful. t With snow. J For the Armenians- 

§ Euphrates,— the Parthians. || The Parthians less exalt themselves. 

IT Having been driven back. 

** Comparatively with their previous range. 

tt Or, the summits of the mountains. JJ Instructed. §§ Mind 



THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 47 

hereafter be* so: sometimes with the harp Apollo 
awakes the silent Muse, nor always stretches the bow. 
In narrow circumstances appear you spirited and 
brave : wisely you the same will contract your sails 
swollen by a wind too prosperous. 



ODE XI. 

TO QUINCTIUS. 

What the warlike Cantabrian may be-cogitating, 
and the Scythian, Quinctius Hirpinus, divided by 
Adriaf opposed J, you should leave-off to inquire: 
nor be-alarmed for the necessity of life desiring few 
things. 

Smooth youth flees backwards and beauty ; arid 
hoariness driving-away wanton loves, and easy sleep. 
Vernal flowers have not always the same honor§; 
nor does ruddy Luna|| shine with one countenance^] : 
why do you fatigue your mind less than ** eternal 
counsels ? Why do we not under either a high plane, 
or this pine lying thus carelessly, and smelling as- 
to our gray hairs with the rose, while it-is-permitted, 
and anointed with Assyrian nard,drink? Eviusft dis- 
sipates eating cares. 

What boy more -quickly will temper % { cups of 
ardent Falernian wine in the water passing-by ? 

* Erit.— Will-it-be. + Od. I. 3. I Interposed. § Beauty. 

|| Od. I. 12. 1T Uniform aspect. ** Unequal to. ft Od. I. 18. 

tt Cool, or, dilute, or, both. 



48 THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 

Who will entice-forth from home the deviating 
wanton Lyde ? come you say you to-her, that she 
should hasten with her ivory lyre, bound-back in a 
knot as-to her uncombed hair in the manner of a 
Lacedaemonian woman. 



ODE XII. 

TO MAECENAS. 

You should not-wish that the long wars of fierce 
Numantia, nor hardy Hannibal, nor the Sicilian sea 
purple with Carthaginian blood, be-adapted to the 
soft measures of the lyre : nor the savage Lapithae, 
and Hylaeus immoderate in wine : or the youths of 
the earth* subdued by the hand of Hercules, whencef 
the glittering house of old Saturn feared danger. 
And you, Maecenas, in prose histories better shall 
describe the battles of Caesar, and the necks of 
threatening kings led through the streets. \ 

The Muse willed that-I should celebrate the songs 
of sweet mistress Lycymnia, the Muse willed that-I 
should celebrate her brightly shining eyes, and 
breast§ well faithful to mutual loves : whom it-mis- 
became neither to bear a footjj in dances, nor contend 
in joke, nor playing give her arms to bright virgins, 
on the sacred day of celebrated Diana. 

* The giants — sons of the earth + From whom. 

t Conquered kings led, in triumph, by chains round (heir necks. 
§ Heart. || To step. 



THE SECOND F.COK OF ODES. 49 

Would you be-willing to exchange a hair of 
Lycymnia, for the things which rich Achaemenes 
possessed, or the Mygdonian riches of fat Phrygia, 
or the plenteous houses of the Arabians, while she 
turns-aside her neck to your burning kisses, or with 
easy cruelty denies kisses, which more she would 
delight to be-snatched by you desiring, or sometimes 
anticipates to steal ? 



ODE XIII. 

TO A THEE. 

He planted you both on an unlucky day, whoever 
first planted you, O tree , and with a sacrilegious hand 
produced you, for the destruction of descendants, and 
reproach of the village. / should have believed 
that-he both has broken the neck of his father, and 
sprinkled his penetralia* with the nocturnal gore of 
his guest ; he has handled Colchian poisons, and 
whatever impiety anywhere is-conceived, who set in 
my field you, a sad log, you, ready-to-fall on the head 
of an undeserving! master. 

What everyone should avoid, a man never has 
sufficiently secured for hours. J 

The Carthaginian sailor greatly-fears the Bospo- 
rus, nor beyond fears blind fates from-elsewhere ; 
the soldier fears the arrows and swift flight of the 

* The inmost parts of a house. t Undeserving of harm, innocent. 
X In horus.— Adverbially — Hourly, every hour. 



50 THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 

Parthian ; the Parthian fears the chains and oak* 
of the Italians : but the unforeseen violence of death 
has carried-off and will carry-off nations. 

How nearly we have seen the kingdoms of dusky 
Proserpine, and judging iEacus : and the selected 
seats of pious persons, and with .iEolian strings f 
Sappho complaining of her country's damsels ; and 
you sounding more-fully with golden quillj, O Alcseus, 
the hard evils of a ship, and the hard evils of flight, 
and the hard evils of war ! The Shades wonder 
that-each utters things worthy-of a sacred silence ; 
but the vulgar close with their shoulders rather 
drinks with the ear battles and expelled tyrants. 
Why is-it wonderful ? when stupified by those songs 
the hundred-headed beast lets-down his black ears, 
and the snakes twisted-in the hairs of the Eumenides 
are-revived; moreover both Prometheus isbeguiled, 
and the parent of Pelops is-beguiled-of his labors§ 
by the sweet sound: nor does Orion care to agitate 
the lions, or the timid lynxes. 



ODE XIV. 

TO POSTUMUS. 

Alas ! Postumus, Postumus, fleeting years glide- 
away : nor will Piety bring delay to || wrinkles and 
instant^ old-age, and untameable Death ; not, if with 

* Prison, part of the interior of which was of oak. t Od. I. 12. 

% Od. I. 26. § Laborum decipitur.—A Grecisra. 

|| Ad/eret — Bring-to. % Advancing. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 51 

three-hundred bulls, as-many days as go, friend, you 
should appease* Pluto not-to-be-moved-by-tears ; who 
confines thrice large Geryon, and Tityos with the 
sad wave, namely that to-be-sailed-over by all of- us, 
whoever live-upon the munificence of the earth, 
whether we shall be kings, or helpless cultivators. 

In-vain we shall be-free-from bloody Mars, and the 
broken waves of hoarse Hadriaf; in-vain through 
autumns we shall dread AusterJ noxious to bodies : 
Black Cocytos wandering with languid stream is to- 
be-visited, and the infamous race of Danaus, and 
Sisyphus iEolides condemned-to long labor. 

Your land is to-be-left, and house, and pleasing 
wife : nor of these trees, which you cultivate, except 
the hated§ cypresses, any one shall follow you§ the 
short-lived master. 

An heir more-worthy shall consume the Csecuban 
wines preserved with a hundred keys : and tinge the 
superb pavement with wine better than that in the 
suppers of the pontiffs. 



ODE XV. 

THE AGE. 

Soon regal piles will leave few acres for the plough : 
on-every-side ponds more-widely extended than the 
Lucrine lake will be-seen : and the singled plane will 

* Endeavour to appease. t Od. I. 3. J The south-wind. 

§ Cypresses were planted around tomhs. 
II Because vines were not fastened, and, as it were, married to that tree. 



52 THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 

conquer* the elms, thenf violetbeds, and myrtles, 
and every abundance of sweet-smelling-flowers, shall 
scatter an odor in oliveyards fertile to a former 
master : thenf the laurel thick with branches shall 
exclude the fervid strokes \. 

It was not so prescribed by the authorities of Ro- 
mulus, and unshorn§ Cato, and the rule of ancient men. 

They had small private property, but great public- 
property ; no portico measured by poles|| for private 
persons received the shady Arctos :% nor did the laws 
allow them to spurn** the fortuitous turf,ff command- 
ing to decorate at public expense towns, and the 
temples of the Gods with new stone. 



ODE XVI. 

TO GROSPHUS. 

The man caught in the open ^Egeansea asks the Gods 
ease, as-soon-as a black cloud has concealed LunaJJ, 
nor certain stars shine for sailors : Thrace furious in 
war asks ease, the Medes adorned with quiver ask 
ease, Grosphus, not to-be-sold for gems, nor purple, 
nor gold. For not treasures, nor the consular lictor§§ 

* Exceed in number. t Turn. — For et, and. J Of the sun. 

§ Cato wore a beard. || Decempedis.— Measuring rods ten feet long. 
IT Od. I. 26.— Admitted the north wind. ** For their own houses, 
tt The turf on the spot. tt Od. I. 12. 

§§ Who removes disorderly persons before the consul. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 53 

removes the miserable tumults of the mind, and cares 
flying about cieled roofs.* 

It-is-lived well by himf with a little, for whom a 
paternal salt-cellar shines on a small table : neither 
Fear or sordid Desire takes-away his light sleeps. 

Why in a short life do we brave aim-at many 
things ? why do we exchange our country for lands 
warm by another sun? what exile also has fled 
himself? Vicious care climbs brazen ships : nor 
leaves the troops of horsemen : swifter than stags, 
and swifter than EurusJ driving the storms. A mind 
cheerful for the present time, will hate to care-for 
that which is beyond, and can temper bitter things 
with a gentle smile. 

Nothing is on every side blest. A sudden death 
carried-off illustrious Achilles : a long old-age im- 
paired Tithonus : and time will extend to me per- 
haps, that which she shall have denied to you. 

About you a hundred flocks and Sicilian cows low ; 
for you the mare adapted for four-horse-cars raises a 
neighing; you wools twice dyed with the African 
murex§ clothe : to me a Parca || not deceitful has 
given small fields, and a little spirit of the Grecian 
Muse, and to spurn the malignant vulgar. 

* The houses of the wealthiest. 

t He lives well. 

X Od. I. 28. 

§ A shell-fish from which a purple dye was obtained. 

II One of the Parcse. Od. II. 6. 



f3 



54 THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 

ODE XVII. 

TO M^CENAS. 

Why do you exanimate* me by your complaints ? 

Neither to the Gods is-it pleasing, nor me, that- 
you first should die, Maecenas, grand ornament and 
support of my affairs. 

Ah ! if a more-mature f power carries-off you a 
part of my soul, why do / the other part delay, 
neither equally dear, nor an entire survivor ? That 
day shall bring the ruin of both. I have not 
spoken a perfidious oath { : we will go, we will go, 
whenever you shall precede, companions prepared to 
take the last journey. Me neither the breath of the 
fiery Chimaera, nor hundred-handed Gyges if he should 
rise-again, ever shall tear-away §. So has-it pleased 
powerful Justice, and the Parcae ||. 

Whether LybraH, or formidable Scorpiusf beholds 
me, the more-violent part of my natal hour, or Capri- 
cornusH the tyrant of the Hesperian wave** : the star 
of each of us agrees in an incredible manner. You 
the refulgent protection of Jupiter f snatched-from 
impious Saturn % and retarded the wings of flying 
Fate, when the crowded people thrice sounded a joy- 
ful sound in the theatres: me a trunk having fallen- 
upon my head had carried-off, unless Faunus, the pre- 

* Dispirit. t Premature. 

t Sacr amentum. —Ihe soldiers' oath to follow their leader. 

§ Separate. || Od. II. 6. f A constellation. ** Od. I. 28. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 55 

server of men of Mercury,* had with his righthand 
lightened the stroke. 

Remember you to render the victims, and votive 
temple : we will strikef a humble lamb. 



ODE XVIII. 

THE COVETOUS. 

Not ivory, nor a golden \ ceiling glitters in my house : 
Hymettian§ beams do not press columns, cut-off in 
the farthest Africa || : nor an unknown heir have / 
seized the palace of Attalus : nor for me do honorable^ 
female clients draw** Laconian purples. But fidelity 
and a bountiful vein of genius / have ; and the rich 
man courts me poor, /request the Gods nothing more : 
nor demand-ofmy powerful friendff larger things, 
sufficiently blest with my Sabine fields alone. Day 
is-pushed by day, and new moons go to perish : you 
just-before your very funeral set marbles to-be-cut ; 
and, unmindful of the sepulchre, build houses ; and 
hasten to remove the shores of the sea sounding- 
against Baiee, little wealthy with the bank containing 
you%\. 

Why is-it, that you even tear-away the next 
boundaries of your land, and avaricious leap beyond 
the limits of your clients ? both the wife is-driven- 
away, carrying in the bosom paternal Gods, and sor- 

* Poets.— Mercury invented the lyre. Od. I. 10. t Sacrifice, 

t Gilt. § From Hymettus. || Numidia. IT Of rank. 

** Spin. ft Maecenas. JJ The shore of the continent. 



56 THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 

did children, and the husband is-driven-away. No 
hall more-certain however than the destined end of 
rapacious Orcus* awaits its rich master. 

Why do you stretch farther ? The impartial earth 
is-unclosed to the poor man, and the sons of kings : 
neither has the life-guardf of Orcus* bribed with 
gold carried-back cunning Prometheus. He confines 
proud Tantalus, and the race of Tantalus ; he invoked, 
and not invoked, listens to relieve the poor man dis- 
charged- from labors. 



ODE XIX. 

ON BACCHUS. 

/ saw Bacchus teaching songs among the remote 
rocks, (believe ye posterity !) and the nymphs learn- 
ing, and the acute ears of the goat-footed Satyrs. 

Evce'4 my mind trembles with recent dread, and 
with my breast full-of§ Bacchus tumultuously rejoices ! 
Evce| ! spare you, Liber|| ! spare you, you to-be- 
dreaded with the heavy thyrsus !^[ 

It-is right for me to sing the wilful Thyiades**, and 
the fountain of wineft> and rivers abundant-inmilkft, 
and to iterate J | the honies dropping from hollow 
trunksff. It-is right also to sing the honor§§ of your 
blest wife || || added to the stars, and the houses of 

* Od. I. 28. t Charon. $ An exclamation of Bacchanals. 

§ Inspired hy. || Od. I. 12. IT A shaft wreathed with vine and ivy. 

** Bacchanals. t+ Produced, by the Thyiades, with the thyrsus. 

Using again. §§ Constellation. |||| Ariadne. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 57 

Pentheus demolished with not a gentle ruin, and the 
destruction of Thracian Lycurgus. 

Thou turnest rivers, thou turnest the barbarian 
sea: thou moist* in separated f hills bindest-up with 
a viper's knot the hairs of the BistonidesJ without 
harm. Thou, when the impious band of Giants 
scaled the realms of the parent § through the height, 
repulsedst Rhastus|| with the claws and horrible jaw 
of a lion : though said to be fitter for dances and 
jokes and play, thou wast not reported as sufficiently 
suitable for fight; but thou wast the same in-the- 
midst-of peace and war. Thee adorned with golden 
horn innocent Cerberus saw, gently- rubbing ^] 'his 
tail, and with three-tongued mouth touched ** the 
feet and legs of thee retiring. 



ODE XX. 

TO MAECENAS. 

Not with a common, nor small wing shall / a two- 
formed ft poet be-borne through the liquid air: nor 
on the lands' linger longer : and greater than§§ envy 
/ will quit cities. Not I the blood |||| of poor parents, 
not I, whom you name^f^[, O beloved Maecenas, shall 
die, nor be-confined by the Stygian wave. Just now 

* With wine — drunk, t Secluded. J Thracian women — bacchanals. 
§ Jupiter. || One of the giants. IT Wagging. ** Licked, 

tt Half man and half swan. Poets allegorically represented them- 
selves as transformed into swans. It Od. I. 2. 
§§ Superior to |||| Offspring. HIT Call by name, address, speak to. 



58 THE SECOND BOOK OF ODES. 

rough skins settle-down on my legs: and / am- 
changed into a white bird as-to my upper parts : and 
light feathers grow over my fingers and shoulders. 
Soon swifter than Deedalean Icarus a melodious bird 
i" will visit the shores of the groaning Bosporus, and 
the Gaetulian Svrtes and the Hyperborean plains. 

Me the Colchian, and the Dacian, who dissembles 
his dread of the Marsian cohort, and the farthest 
Geloni shall know : me the expert Iberian shall 
learn, and the drinker of the Rhodanus*. 

Let dirges f be-absent from my empty % funeral, 
and shameful mournings, and complaints : repress 
you your clamor, and omit the superfluous honors of 
a sepulchre. 

* Rhone. tOd. II. 1. J Unreal. 



THE THIRD BOOK 



THE ODES. 



ODE I. 

TO ASINIUS POLLIO. 



/hate the profane vulgar, and keep them off*; fa- 
vour ye me with your tonguesf ; / the priest of the 
Muses, sing songs not before heard, by virgins and 
boys. 

The empire of kings to-be -feared is over their-own 
flocks, the empire of Jupiter, illustrious by his tri- 
umph of the giants |, moving all things by his nod, 
is over kings themselves. 

It-happens, that one man sets trees in furrows more ■ 
widely § than another man; that this man as a more- 
noble candidate descends into the Campus ; that this 
man contends as better in morals and fame; that that 
man has a greater crowd of clients. By an equal 

* Arceo.— Keep-off. + By holding them. J Over the giants. 

§ More-extensively. 



60 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

law Necessity chooses the distinguished and the 
lowest men; the capacious urn moves every name*. 

For him, over whose impious neck a drawn sword 
hangsf, not Sicilian meats will elaborate a sweet 
taste, not the soDgs of birds and the lyre will bring- 
back sleep. The gentle sleep of rustic men does 
not disdain humble houses, or the shady bank, it does 
wot disdain Tempe agitated by Zephyrs. 

Him desiring what is sufficient, neither the tumul- 
tuous sea troubles, nor the savage violence of Arc- 
turus^ setting, or rising HaedusJ: not vineyards 
beaten by hail, or a deceitful farm, the tree now 
blaming the waters §, now the stars burning the 
fields, now unkind winters. 

The fishes feel the seas contracted, by the piers laid 
into the deep. Hither many a contractor sends- 
down caementa j| with servants, and the master ^[ dis- 
dainful of the land**. But Fear and Threats scale 
to-the-same-place, whither the master; nor does 
black Care depart-from the brazen trireme, and sits 
behind the horseman. 

But if neither Phrygian stone, nor the use of pur- 
ples more-bright than a star, nor the Falernian vine, 
or Achsemenian costumff. soothes the man in-pain : 
why should / build a lofty hall with posts to-be- 

* The goddess turns the urn with every-one's lot. 

T An allusion to the story of Damocles. t A constellation. 

§ Rains. || Rough stones. 5T That is, the employer is with them. 

** Disdaining the limits of the land. 

tt Perfume frcm the shrub costum. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 61 

envied, and in the new style? why should I ex- 
change my Sabine valley for riches more-full-of- 
pains ? 



ODE II. 

TO HIS FRIENDS. 

O friend, let the robust youth learn-together to 
suffer narrow poverty in sharp warfare, and as a 
horseman to-be-dreaded with the spear vex the fierce 
Parthians : and lead a life under the open-sky, in 
fearful circumstances. 

Him from hostile walls let the matron of the war- 
ring tyrant beholding, and the adult virgin, sigh : 
Alas ! lest the royal spouse ignorant of troops should 
provoke the lion rough to-be-touched, whom bloody 
rage hurries through the midst-of slaughters. 

It-is a sweet and honorable thing to die for one's 
country. Death pursues even the fleeing man, nor 
spares the knees or timid back of unwarlike youth. 

Virtue, unknowing of sordid repulse, shines with 
uncontaminated honors : nor assumes, or puts-down 
the axes* with the will of popular airf . Virtue, un- 
closing heaven to those undeserving to die, attempts 
a journey by a denied % way : and spurns the vulgar 
assemblies and wet earth with flying wing. 

There is also a sure reward for faithful silence. / 
will forbid that he, who shall have divulged the 

* Offices, honors. Seefascas, Od. I. 12. f Favor. I Difficult. 
G 



62 THE THIRD BOOK OP ODES. 

sacred-rite of secret Ceres, should be under the same 
beams, or with-me loose a fragile boat. Oft Dies- 
piter* neglected has joined the undefiled man to the 
unchaste man : rarely Punishment with lame foot has 
deserted the wicked man going-before. 



ODE III. 

THE VIRTUOUS MAJT. 

Not the ardor of citizens commanding wrong things, 
not the countenance of an urging tyrant shakes the 
man just and tenacious of purpose from a firm inten- 
tion, nor Austerf, the turbid ruler of unquiet Ha- 
driaj, nor the great hand of thundering Jupiter. 
If a crushed world should fall-upon him, the ruins 
will strike him undaunted. 

By this art§ Pollux and wandering Hercules 
having toiled, reached the fiery J| citadels : between 
whom Augustus reclining drinks nectar with purple 
mouth. 

By this art § thee deserving, O Bacchus father? 
your tigresses carried, drawing the yoke with indocile 
neck. 

By this art% Quirinus^i with the horses of Mars 
escaped Acheron, Juno having spoken-out what was 
agreeable to the consulting Gods: "Ilion**, Ilion** 
a fatal and unchaste judge tf, and a foreign 

* Od. I. 34. t Od. II. 14. t Od. I. 3 § Virtue. || Starry. 
IT Od 1.2. **Od. I. 10. ft Paris. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 63 

woman* has turned into dust, from the time at which 
a reward being stipulated! LaomedonJ deserted § 
the Gods||, having been condemned % to me and 
chaste Minerva, with the people and fraudulent 
leader**. 

"Now neither does the infamous guestff shine for 
the Lacedemonian adulteress *, nor does the perjured 
house of Priamus|| repel the pugnacious Achivi §§ 
by the aid || || of Hector : and the war protracted by 
our seditions has subsided. 

"Henceforth / will give-up to Mars both my griev- 
ous resentments, and hated grandson %<(\, whom the 
Trojan priestess*f brought-forth. Him I will suffer 
to enter the bright seats, and to quaff the juices of 
nectar, and to be-enrolled in the quiet orders of the 
Gods. 

" So-that the long sea rages between Ilion*J and 
Rome, in any part let the exiles reign happy : so-that 
a herd insults the tomb of Priamus %% and Paris, and 
wild-beasts unhurt conceal their young ; the Capitol 
may stand refulgent, and fierce Rome be-able to 
give laws to the triumphed-over Medes. To-be- 
dreaded let her widely extend her name to the farthest 
coasts, where the middle sea*§ separates Europe from 
the African, where the swollen Nile waters the 

* Helen. + For building the walls of Troy. X King of Troy. 

§ Defrauded. 

II Apollo and Neptune, who engaged to build the walls of Troy. 

11 For punishment. ** Priam. +t Paris. %% Od. I. 10. 

§§ Grecians. || || Opibus.— Plural number. HIT Romulus. 

*t Ilia, a priestess of Vesta. *% Od. I. 10. 

*§ The sea of Gades. 



64 THE THIBD BOOK OF ODES. 

fields : more-brave to spurn gold undiscovered, and so 
better situated, when the earth conceals it, than 
force it, with a righthand seizing every sacred thing, 
to human uses. Whatever boundary of the world 
has opposed, this let her touch with arms, delighting 
to visit, in what part fires* may rage, in what part 
clouds and rainy dews may rage. 

"But these fates / declare to the warlike Quiritesf 
on this condition, that too pious, and confident in 
their affairs, they will notj repair the houses of an- 
cient Troy. The fortune of Troy, reviving with 
mournful bird§, shall be-repeated with sad destruc- 
tion, I the wife and sister of Jupiter leading the 
victorious bands. Thrice if a brazen wall should 
rise-again, by founder Phoebus : thrice it should perish 
destroyed by my Argives||; thrice should the wife 
captive bewail her husband and children." 

These things do not suit the jocose lyre. Whither, 
O Muse, are you going % ? Cease you persevering to 
relate the discourses of the Gods, and lessen great 
things by small measures. 



ODE IV. 

TO CALLIOPE. 

Descend you from heaven, O queen Calliope, and 
come you, utter you, with your pipe, a long song, or- 

* Stars. t Od. I. 1. % Ne.— That-not. § Omen. || Grecians. 
*\ Tendis. — Are-going. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 65 

if now you prefer with your shrill voice, or strings 
and lyre* of Phoebus. 

Hear ye ? or does a pleasing phrensy delude me ? 
/ seem to hear and wander through the pious 
groves,f which pleasant waters and breezes go- 
into. 

Me, a child, fatigued with play and sleep, the 
fabulous J doves covered with fresh leaf, in Apulian 
Vultur, without the limit of my nurse Apulia : § 
which was a wonderful thing to all, whoever inhabit 
the nest of lofty Acherontia, and the Bantine 
forests, and the rich country of low Forentum : how 
/ could sleep with my body secure from dark vipers 
and bears; how / could be-covered both with sacred 
laurel and collected myrtle, not without the Gods a 
spirited infant. 

Yours / am, O Muses, yours / am whether I am- 
raised to the lofty Sabines ; or frigid Prseneste, or 
sloping Tibur, or watery Baiae have pleased me. 

Me friendly to your fountains and dances, not the 
army turned back at Philippi has extinguished, not 
the devoted || treell has extinguished, nor Palinurus** 
in the Sicilian wave. Whenever ye shall be with- 
me, a willing sailor / will attempt the raging Bos- 
porus, and a traveller attempt the dry sands of the 
Assyrian shore. / will visit the Britons fierce to 

* Fidibus citharaque— For fidibus cithara, strings of the lyre. 

t Groves sacred to the Muses. J Much-talked of. 

§ Native Apulia. li Accursed. IT Od. II. 13. 

** A cape, so called from iEneas's pilot, lost there. 

g3 



DD THE THTP.D BOOK OF ODES. 

strangers, and the Concanian delighting in the blood 
of horses; / will visit the quivered Geloni, and the 
Scythian river, inviolate. 

Ye refresh in your Pierian grot lofty Caesar, as- 
soon-as he has put-away in towns his cohorts wearied 
by service, seeking to end his labors: ye both give 
gentle counsel, and it being given, gracious, rejoice. 

We know how Ae* carried-ofT the impious 
Titanes, f and the vast troop % with the falling 
thunderbolt, who alone rules the inert earth, who 
rules the stormy sea. and cities, and the sorrowful 
kingdoms, § and Gods, and mortal crowds with 
equal empire. 

That confident youth \ horrid with their arms had 
brought great terror uponj| Jupiter, and the brothers J 
proceeding to place Pelionupon^I shady Olympus 
had brought great terror upon Jupiter. But what 
could Typhs&us,** and strong Mimas** avail, or what 
could Porphyrion** with menacing stature avail, 
what could Rhaetus,tt and Enceladus** a daring 
hurler with torn-out trunks avail, rushing against 
the sounding aegis \\ of Pallas ? 

On-one-side eager Vulcanus §§ stood, on-another- 
side matron Juno stood, and Delian and Patarean 
Apollo, never about-to-lay-aside his bow from his 
shoulders, who laves his loosed hairs in the pure 

* Jupiter. t Titans. J The giants. § Tartara. Od. 1. 28, 

|| Intulerut.— Hadbrou b ht-upon. ^f I/nposuisse — To place upon. 

** One of the giants tt Od. II. 13. H Od. I 15. 

|§Od. I. 4. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 67 

dew of Castalia, who inhabits the brakes and natal 
woods of Lycia. 

Force void of counsel falls by its-own weight: the 
Gods also promote tempered force to what-is-greater, 
they the same hate forces moving in the mind every 
impiety. 

Hundred-handed Gyges* is a witness of my senti- 
ments, and Orion the known tempter of chaste 
Diana, subdued by a virgin dartf. Terra} cast-upon 
her monsters § grieves, and mourns her offsprings§ 
sent by a thunderbolt to lurid Orcus || : nor does the 
swift fire eat-through % iEtna placed-upon it; nor 
does the bird relinquish the liver of incontinent 
Tityus, having been added as a guardian ** for his 
naughtiness : three-hundred chains confine the lover 
Perithous. 



ODE V. 

THE PRAISES OF AUGTJS'IUS. 

We have believed that thundering Jupiter reigns in 
heaven : Augustus shall be-held a present God, the 
Britons being added-to the Empire, and the trouble- 
some Persae. 

Has a soldier of Crassus lived as a husband dis- 
graceful with a barbarian wife ? and, — Oh the 
Curia, f f and inverted morals ! — the Marsian and 

* Od II. 17. t Diana, a virgin, pierced him with her arrows 

I The Earth. § The giants. H Od. I. 28. IT Consume". 

** Like a guardian. ft Senate. 



68 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

Apulian grown-old in the lands of enemies, fathers- 
in-law, under the king of the Medes, forgetful of the 
Ancilia, * and name,f and gown,;}; and eternal§ 
Vesta, Jupiter || being safe, and the city Rome ? 

The provident mind of Regulus had guarded- 
against this thing, dissenting from foul conditions, 
and an example drawing destruction on a coming 
age, if captive youth might not perish unpitied. 

"I," said he, "have seen our standards affixed to 
Punic % temples, and arms torn-away from soldiers 
without slaughter : I have seen the arms of citizens 
twisted-behind to their free back: and gates not 
closed,** and that-fields laid-waste by our Mars ff 
were cultivated. 

"The soldier redeemed with gold certainly will 
return more-courageous ! To disgrace ye add loss. 
Neither does the wool dyed with fucus %% resume its 
lost colors, nor true valor, when once it has failed, 
care to be-replaced in meaner persons. If the hind 
extricated from close toils fights, he will be brave, 
who has entrusted himself to perfidious enemies ; 
and with another Mars ff he will trample-upon the 
Pceni, §§ who inert has felt thongs with arms bound- 

■ The sacred shields, pledges, while at Rome, for the duration of 
the empire. 

t Roman name. t The cadge of a Roman. 

§ Alluding to the fire perpetually hurningin Vesta's temple. 

|| Jupiter Capitolinus — the Capitol, under his protection. 

IT Carthaginian. 

*• The gates of Carthage left open, indicating security. 

ttOd.II. 14. JJ A sea-weed used for dying purple. 

§§ Carthaginians. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES 69 

behind, and feared death. He*, unknowing whence 
he might take life, has mingled f peace with war. 

"O shame! great Carthage, higher by the re- 
proachful ruins of Italy !" 

He is-reported to have removed from himself the 
kiss of his modest wife, and little children, as less of 
head J, and stern fixed his manly countenance on- 
the-ground : until as an adviser he confirmed the 
fathers § wavering in counsel never otherwise given, 
and among sorrowing friends hasted away an excel- 
lent exile. 

And-yet he knew what things the barbarian tor- 
turer was preparing for him : not otherwise however 
he moved-aside his withstanding relations, and the 
people delaying his returns, than if a suit being 
determined he was quitting the long businesses of 
clients, going to the Venafran fields, or Lacedaemo- 
nian Tarentum. 



ODE VI. 

TO THE ROMANS. 

You undeserving shall suffer-for the delinquencies of 
ancestors, Roman, till you shall have repaired the 
temples, and falling edificies of the Gods, and sta- 
tues foul with black smoke. 

* Such an one. + Confounded. 

t Mi>ior ratione capitis. — Less than the condition of civil life — 
deprived of civil rights. § Senators. 



70 THE TKIBD BOOK OF ODES. 

Because you bear yourself less than * the Gods, yen 
command: hence refer you every beginning, hither 
refer you the end. 

The Gods having been neglected have given 
many evils to sorrowful Hesperiaf. Already twice 
has Monseses, and the band of Pacorus, crushed our 
attacks not auspicious, and smiles to have added our 
spoil to his small collars. The Dacian and the 
./Ethiopian almost destroyed the city occupied by 
seditions : the latter dreaded with a fleet, the foimer 
better with missile arrows. 

The times fruitful-in crime, first have polluted 
nuptials, and race, and houses. Destruction derived 
from this fountain has flowed upon the country and 
people. 

The mature virgin delights to be-taught the Ionic 
motions \, and is-formed to arts : and even now medi- 
tates unchaste loves from the tender nail§. Soon 
she seeks younger adulterers at her husband's wines : 
nor selects, to whom she should give hurriedly her 
not-permitted joys, lights being removed ; but 
having been commanded openly not without a con- 
scious husband rises, whether a factor calls, or the 
master of a Spanish ship, the costly purchaser of her 
disgraces. 

Not a youth sprung-from such parents infected 
the sea with Punic || blood, and slew Pyrrhus, and 
great Antiochus, and dire Hannibal : but a masculine 
race of rustic soldiers, taught to turn the clods with 

* In subordination to. t Od. I. 36. J Dances § From childhood. 
|| Od.V. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES 71 

Sabine spades, and carry faggots chopped off at the 
will of a severe mother, when the sun changed the 
shadows of the mountains, and took-off the yokes 
from* the wearied oxen, bringing the friendly 
hour, with departing chariot. 

What does not the wasteful dayf impair ? The age 
of our parents, worse than % our grandfathers, has 
borne us more-wicked, soon about-to-give a progeny 
more-vicious. 



ODE VII. 

TO ASTERIE. 

Why do you weep-for Gyges, O Asterie, whom the 
fair Favonii§ will restore to you at the beginning-of 
spring, blest with Thynian|| merchandize, a young- 
man of constant fidelity^ ? 

He having been driven by the Noti** to Oricum, 
afterff the raging stars of Capra||, sleepless passes 
the frigid nights not without many tears. 

But the messenger of his solicitous hostess, say- 
ing that Chloe sighs, and miserable is-burned by 
your fires, crafty tempts in a thousand modes. He 
relates, how a perfidious woman impelled credulous 
Prcetus by false accusations, to hasten the death of 
the too chaste Bellerophon. He narrates that- 

* Demeret. — Took-off-from. T Age. J Worse than the age of. 
§ West-winds. Od. I. 4. || Bithynian. IT Fide.— Foxfidei. 

** South-winds. tt After the rising of. tt A constellation. 



l'2 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

Peleus was almost given to Tartarus*, while abstain- 
ing he fled Magnesian Hippolyte : and fallacious relates 
histories teaching to sin : in vain : for deafer than the 
rocks of the Icarian sea he hears his words still un- 
corru.pt. 

But, you beware, lest neighbour Enipeus should 
please you more than right : though not another 
equally knowing to turn a horse is-beheld in the 
Martian plain, nor anyone equally swift swims- 
down in the Tuscan channel. 

At the beginning-of night close you your house : 
nor at the sound of a plaintive pipe look-down into 
the streets : and remain inflexible to him often call- 
ing you hard. 

♦ 

ODE VIII. 

TO MAECENAS. 

You wonder, what / a single man can do at the Ca- 
lends of Mars f, what flowers % can mean, and the 
censer full of frankincense J, and the coal placed on 
the live turf \ §, O you instructed in the treatises of 
each language j|. 

/ had vowed sweet banquets and a white goat to 
Liberal, almost having been slain by a blow of a 
tree**. This festal day, in the returning year, shall 

* Pluto. 

t March, when the Matronalia, festivals in honor of marriage 

were celebrated. J For the Matronalia. § Od. I. 19. 

|| Acquainted -with the literature both of Greece and Rome. 
irOd.I. 12. **0d. II. 13. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 73 

remove the cork fastened with pitch to*theamphora,f 
set to imbibe smoke| the consul being Tullus§. Take 
you, Maecenas, a hundred cups of your friend safe,|| 
and continue the wakeful lights to day-light : let 
all clamor be far and anger. 

Dismiss you civil cares about the City : the army 
of Dacian Cotison has fallen : the Mede inimical to 
himself is-at-variance in sorrowful arms : the old 
enemy cf the Spanish coast serves us, the Cantabrian, 
subdued by a late chain : now the Scythians with lax 
bow^ meditate to recede from the plains. 

Neglecting, as a private person spare you to be too 
cautious^!, lest in any way the people should be-in- 
trouble : joyful seize you the gifts of the present hour, 
and leave serious things. 



ODE IX. 

AN AMOIB^EAN ODE. 

Horace. — As-long-as /was agreeable to you, norany 
better youth gave his arms to your fair neck : / lived 
more-blessed than the king of the Persae. 

Lydia. — As-long-as you burned not more with 
another woman, nor Lydia was after Chloe : / Lydia 
of great name lived more-illustrious than Roman 
Ilia. 

* Adstrictum.— Fastened-to. t A vase, for wine, with two handles. 

t Set in the repositories accessible to smoke, for ripening 

§ In the consulship of Tullus. 

3 In honor of your friend's safety, and so, his 

%-Cantre.— To be-cautious. 



74 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

Horace. — Me now Thracian Chloe rules, instructed 
in sweet modulations, and skilful-with the lyre : for 
whom / would not dread to die, if the fates will spare 
my soul surviving. 

Lydia. — Me Calais son of Thurian Ornytus burns 
with mutual torch : for whom twice / would suffer to 
die, if the fates will spare my youth surviving. 

Horace. — What? if former Love returns, and by a 
brazenyoke brings-together us divided ? if fair Chloe 
is-shaken-ofT, and the door is-open to rejected Lydia ? 

Lydia. — Though he is fairer than a star, you are 
lighter than cork, and more-passionate than violent 
Hadria*: with-you I would love to live, with-you 
willing / would die. 



ODE X. 

TO LYCE. 

If you drank the extreme Tanais, Lyce, married to 
a savage man : yet you might weep to expose me 
prostrate before your rough doors to the inhabitants 
the Aquilones*. 

Hear you, with what a noise your gate, with what a 
noise the grove planted about your beautiful housesf 
bellows to the winds? And how Jupiter J freezes 
the laid snows with his pure influence § ? 

* Od. I s 

t A reference to the trees pi and within the courtyard. 
I The air. Od. I. 1, 22. § Clear sky. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 75 

Do you lay-aside pride disagreeable-to Venus, lest 
your rope should go back with running wheel*. A 
Tyrrhenian^ parent has not begot you a Penelope 
inaccessible to suitors. 

' 0, though neither presents, nor prayers, nor the 
pallor tinged with violet of loving perso?is, nor a hus- 
band wounded| by a Pierian mistress bends you : your 
suppliants you should spare, neither softer than the 
rigid beech, nor as-to disposition gentler than Moor- 
ish snakes. 

This side will not always be patient of the 
threshold, or the celestial water.§ 



ODE XI. 

TO MERCURIUS.|| 

O Mercurius|J, for you being master teachable Amphion 
moved stones by singing, and you, Lyre% skilful to 
resound with seven strings, neither vocal formerly, 
nor agreeable, now friendly both to the tables of rich 
men and the temples, do you dictate measures, to 
which Lyde may apply her obstinate ears ; who, like- 
as a filly three-years-old in the wide plains, plays 
exultingly, and dreads to-be-touched, inexperienced 
of nuptials, and hitherto unripe for a wanton hus- 
band. 

* Lay-aside insolence, lest, — like the rope of a crane-wh el, which, 
too heavily laden, runs down again— it fail you at last, 
t The Tyrrhenians were not famed for severity. J Smitten. 

§ The rain. || Od. I. 10. IT Testudo.—Od. I 32. 



76 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

You can lead tigers and woods a$ companions, and 
retard swift rivers. To you charming the enormous 
porter of the hall* Cerberus, yielded: though a hun- 
dred snakes fortify his Furiousf head, and a foul 
breath and matter flows from his triple-tongued 
mouth. Moreover also Ixion and Tityos with an 
unwilling countenance smiled :the urnj. stood a little 
dry, while you soothe the daughters of Danaus with 
an agreeable song. 
Let Lyde hear-of the wickedness and known punish- 
ments of the Virgins, and the empty cask of water 
running-through by the lowest bottom, \ and the late 
fates, which await crimes even under Orcus§. 

O impious Virgins, for what greater thing could 
they do ? Impious they could destroy their bride- 
grooms with hard iron. 

One of the many virgins, worthy of the nuptial 
torch, was splendidly false to her perjured parent, 
and a virgin ennobled to every age : " Rise you" 
who said to her young husband, " rise you, lest a long 
sleep be-given to you, whence you do hot fear ; and 
escape your father-in-law and my wicked sisters; 
who, like lionesses having found calves, alas ! tear 
their several bridegrooms. I softer than they, neither 
will strike you, nor keep you within doors. 

"Me let my father load with cruel chains, because 
clement /spared my miserable husband : me let him 

* Of Pluto. t Like one of the Furies. 

I The urn, or. cask, with a hole at the bottom, which the 
daughters of Danaus were condemned to fill. § Od. I. 28. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 77 

relegate* in a ship even to the extreme fields of the 
Numidae. 

" Go you, whither your feet hurry you and the 
breezes, while night favors and Venus : go you 
with favorable omen : and engrave a complaint 
commemorative of us on my sepulchre." 



ODE XII. 

TO NEOBULE. 

iT-is-the-partf of miserable women, neither to give 
play to Love, nor with sweet wine wash-away evils, 
or to be-exanimatedj dreading the lashes of an uncle's 
tongue. 

From you the winged Son § of Cythereaj| takes- 
away % your basket**, from you, O Neobule, the 
beauty of Lijjareean Hebrus takes-away^[ your webs, 
and the study of industrious Minerva : as-soon-as he has 
laved his anointed shoulders in the Tiberine waves, a 
horseman better than Bellerophon himself, neither by 
fist nor slow foot having been conquered: the same 
skilful to strike stags fleeing through the open plain 
in an agitated herd, and swift to catch the boar lurk- 
ing in a deep shrubbery. 

* Transport. t Condition. \ Dispirited. 

§ Cupid. Od. I. 30, 32. || Venus. % Takes-away concern for. 

** Work-basket. 

h3 



78 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

ODE XIII. 

TO THE BANDUSIAN FOUNTAIN. 

Fountain of Bandusia, more-splendid than glass, 
worthy-of sweet wine, not without flowers, tomorrow 
you shall be-presented with a kid, for whom a fore- 
head turgid with the first horns, destines both Love, 
and battles : in-vain : for the offspring of the wanton 
flock shall infect your cold rivers with red blood. 

You the fierce hour of the burning Qanicula * 
knows-not-how to touch : you afford delightful cool- 
ness to oxen wearied with the ploughshare, and the 
wandering herd. 

You also shall become one of the noble fountains, 
by me celebrating the ilexf planted-upon the hollow 
rocks, whence your murmuring waters leap-down. 



ODE XIV. 

ON THE RETURN OF AUGUSTUS FROM SPAIN. 

In the manner of Hercules, lately said, O People, to 
have sought the laurel purchaseable by death, Caesar 
revisits his Penates % a victor from the Spanish 
shore. 
Let the woman § delighting in a unique husband 

* Od. I. 17. t A kind of oak. t Od. II. 4. 

§ livia, wife of Augustus. 



TUB THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 79 

come-forth, having sacrificed to the just Gods ; and 
the sister of the illustrious general, and the mothers 
of virgins ornamented with a suppliant fillet,* and 
youths lately safe.f 

Do ye, O youths, and damsels lately having expe- 
rienced a husband, spare ill omened words. 

This day truly festive to me shall take-away 
gloomy cares : I will dread neither tumult, nor to die 
by violence, Caesar possessing the lands. 

Go you, seek you an unguent, O slave, and chap- 
lets, and a cask commemorative of the Marsian warj, 
if in any way a cask could escape the roving Sparta- 
cus. And tell you singing Neeera that she should 
hasten to bind-up her hair perfumed-with-myrrh in 
a knot : if through the hated porter delay shall 
happen, depart you. 

Whitening hair softens minds fond of strifes and 
petulant quarrel : I could not bear § this thing warm 
with youth, the consul being Plancus. |j 



ODE XV. 

TO CHLORIS. 

Do you, wife of poor Ibycus, at-length fix a measure 
to your wickedness, and infamous labors : nearer a 

* Such as suppliants wore. t From war. 

X Wine of the period of the Marsic war. § Ferrem.— For 
tulissem, could have borne || In the consulship of Plancus. 



80 THE THIHD BOOK OF ODES. 

mature funeral cease you to play among virgins, and 
spread a cloud among bright stars. 

Not, if anything sufficiently becomes Pholoe, does it 
also become you, Chloris ; your daughter more- 
rightly attacks the houses of young -men, as the 
Thyias* excited by the beaten timbrel. 

Her the love of Nothus constrains to play like a 
wanton she-goat : you an old -woman wools shorn near 
noble Luceriaf become, but not lyres, nor the purple 
flower of the rose, nor casks drunk to the lees. 



ODE XVI. 

TO M^CENAS. 

A brazen tower, and doors of oak, and the sad 
watchings of wakeful dogs, had fortified sufficiently 
enclosed Danae from nocturnal adulterers : if Jupiter 
and Venus had not laughed-at Acrisius, the anxious 
guard of the concealed Virgin : for they knew that 
the road would be safe and open for the God con- 
verted into money. J 

Gold loves § to go through the midst-of life-guards, 
and break-through rocks, more-potently than the 
stroke of lightning. 

* A Bacchanal. Od II. 19. t Famed for the fineness of its fleeces . 
% Using a bribe. 
§ Amat —Equivalent to the Greek <f)i\ei, and stronger than the 
Lata sold, is wont. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 81 

The house of the Argive augur* fell, on-account-of 
lucre immersed in destruction. 

The Macedonian manf cleft-asunder the gates of 
cities, and undermined emulous kings by gifts. Gifts 
ensnare the fierce captains of ships. 

Care follows increasing money, and a desire of 
greater goods. 

With justice / have dreaded to raise the widely 
conspicuous head, J O Maecenas, honor of the 
knights. 

By how much anyone shall have denied himself 
more things, he shall receive more things from the 
Gods. 

Of those desiring nothing I naked § seek the 
camps ; and a deserter rejoice to leave the sides of 
rich men ; the more-splendid master of a despised 
estate, than if / could be-said to hide in my 
granaries, whatever the industrious Appulian reaps, 
poor among great riches. 

A river of pure water, and a wood of a few acres, 
and a certain faith of my crop, escapes the man glit- 
tering in the government of fertile Africa. 

I am more-blessed in my lot, though neither Cala- 
brian bees bring honies, nor Wine languishes for me 
in a Lsestrygonian amphoraJ|, nor rich fleeces in- 
crease in Gallic pastures : yet importunate Poverty 
is-absent ; nor, if / should desire more things, would 
you deny to give more things. 

* Amphiaraus. + Philip, father of Alexander the Great. 

X To lift up my head — to be distinguished for wealth. 

§ I who have comparatively nothing. || Od. III. 8. 



82 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

/ shall better extend my small revenues my desire 
being contracted, than if / could continue the 
kingdom of Alyatteus* to the Mygdonian plains. 

Many things are-wanting to those desiring many 
things. 

It-is well for him, to whom the God has offered 
what is sufficient, with a sparing hand. 



ODE XVII. 

TO iELIUS LAMIA. 

O iELius, noble from old Lamus, since they 
relate that both the former Lamiee hence were deno- 
minated, and all the race of descendants through 
commemorative annals draws its origin from that 
founder, who as prince is-said to have held the walls 
of Formise, and Liris swimming-uponf the shores of 
Marica, widely a tyrant: to morrow a tempest sent- 
down by EurusJ will strew the grove with many 
leaves, and the shore with useless sea-weed, unless 
the augur of rain the aged crow deceives. 

While able, do you lay-up dry wood : tomorrow 
you shall take-care-of § your Genius || with wine %, 
and a pig two-months- old, with servants released- 
from labors. 

* Lydia. + Flowing to. X Od. I. 25. § Sacrifice to. 

|| Guardian deity. IT A libation of wine. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 83 



ODE XVIH. 

TO FAUNUS. 

O Faunus, lover of the fleeing Nymphs, through my 
boundaries and sunny fields may you gentle advance, 
and retire favorable to the little alumni * : if a 
tender kid fallsf at the full year, nor plenty-of wines 
are-wanting to the bowl the companion of Venus, if 
the old altar smokes with much odor. 

All the herd plays in the grassy plain, when the 
Nones of December return to thee : I the festive vil- 
lage is-at-leisure in the meadows, with the ox at-ease : 
the wolf wanders among the bold lambs : the wood 
scatters its rustic leaves for thee : the digger rejoices 
to have beaten the hated ground thrice with his 
foot. 



ODE XIX. 

TO TELEPHUS. 

How-far Codrus, not timid to die for his country, may 
be-distant§ from Inachus, you give-account- of, and 
youoive-account-ofth.eia.ee ofiEacus, and the wars 
fought under sacred Ilium || : at what price we may- 
buy a Chian cask, who can temper water with fires, 

* Young of the flocks. t As a sacrifice to thee. 

X When a festival in honor of Faunus recurred. § In i>oint of time. 

|| Od. I. 10. 



84 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

who affording a house, and at what hour I may be- 
free-from Pelignian colds, you pass-in-silence. 

Give you hastily the cup of the new Moon*, give 
you the cup of the middle-of Night* give ycu, O boy, 
the cup of the augur Muraena*: let the cups be-mixedf 
with three or nine convenient goblets. 

The astonished poet, who loves the uneven Muses 
shall call-for thrice three goblets : the Grace dread- 
ing quarrels, joined to her naked sisters, forbids to 
touch above three goblets. 

It-delights me to rave. 

Why do the blowings of the Berecyntian pipe 
cease? Why does the flute hang with the silent 
lyre? 

I hate sparing right hands : scatter you roses : let 
envious Lycus hear the ranting noise, and the neigh- 
bor not suitable for old Lycus. 

You shining with thick hair, you like pure Vesper, 
O Telephus, ripe Rhode courts : me the gentle love 
of my Glycera scorches. 



ODE XX. 

TO PYHBHUS. 

Do not you see, with how great peril you move, O 
Pyrrhus, the whelps of a Getulian lioness ? 

* The cup was said to be his or hers, in whose honor it was drunk, 
f Filled. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 85 

After a little you a cowardly ravisher shall flee 
hard combats : when she will go through opposing 
troops of youths redemanding distinguished Near- 
chus : a grand contest, whether a greater prey may 
fall to you, or her. 

In-the-mean-time, while you produce swift arrows, 
and she whets her teeth to-be-feared, the umpire* of 
the battle is-reported to have put the palm under his 
naked footf, and refreshed with a gentle breeze his 
shoulder sprinkled with perfumed hairs : such-as 
either Nireus has been, or he ravished from watery- 
Ida. 



ODE XXI. 

TO HIS AMPHORA.J 

goodly jar, born with-me the consul being Man- 
lius§, whether you bear complaints, or jokes, or 
quarrel, and insane amours, or easy sleep, by what- 
ever name you preserve the gathered j| Massic wine, 
worthy to be-moved on a good day, descend % you, 
Corvinus commanding to produce the mellower 
wines. 

He will not rough neglect you, though he is- 
drunken** with Socratic conversations+f : even the 

* Nearchus. t A phrase for indifference. t Od. III. 8. 

§ Containing wine of the same year in which I was born, in the 
consulship of Manlius. || The word applies strictly to the grape. 

IT The wine-store was in the upper part of the house. Od. 8. 2. 

** Is imbued. ft Socrates instructed by conversations. 

I 



86 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

virtue of old Cato* is-said frequently to have warmed 
with wine. 

You apply a gentle violence to the disposition ge- 
nerally harsh : you reveal the cares and secret counsel 
of wise men by jocose Lyseus t: you bring-back hope 
and powers to anxious minds : and add hornsj to the 
poor man, after you trembling-at neither the angry 
diadems of kings, nor the arms of soldiers. 

You Liber§, and, if she shall come propitious, Venus, 
and the Graces slow to loose the knotj|, and living^] 
lamps shall prolong, till returning Phoebus puts-to- 
flight the stars.** 



ODE XXII. 

TO DIANA. 

O Virgin, guardian of mountains and groves, who 
thrice having been called ff hearest girls laboring in 
the womb, and snatchest-away from death, triformff 
Goddess : yours be the pine t| overhanging my villa, 
which through completed years§§I joyful may pre- 
sent with the blood of a boar-pig meditating an 
oblique blow||||. 

* Virtuous old Cato. t Bacchus. 

t Emblematic of power, courage, &c. § Od I. 12. 

II Which binds them together. ^ Burning. ** Till Morning, 
ft An allusion to the three names under which she was invoked, 
Luna, in Olympus ; Diana, on earth ; and Hecate, in Hades. 

XX Be the pine consecrated to you. 
§§ Once a year. ||J His tusk being in the side of his jaw. 



THE THIHD BOOK OF ODES. 87 

ODE XXIII. 

TO PHIDYLE. 

If you shall have raised hands upward to heaven at 
the rising Moon*, rustic Phidvle, if you shall have 
appeased the Laresf with frankincense and this-year's 
fruit, and a ravenous swine ; neither shall the fruitful 
vine feel the pestilent Africus,J nor shall the coin 
feel the sterile blight, or shall the sweet alumni§ 
feel the sickly time in the fruit-bearing year||. 

For, the victim, which devoted is-pastured in snowy 
Algidus, among oaks and ilexes^!, or increases in Al- 
banian pastures, shall tinge the axes of the pontiffs 
with its neck. 

Nothing does-it-appertain-to you crowning the 
little Gods with marine ros** and fragile myrtle to 
tempt them with many a slaughter of bidentesff. 

If a pure hand has touched the altar, not more-per- 
suasive with costly victim has it appeased the averted 
Penates {J, than with pious corn and leaping salt. 



ODE XXIV. 

AGAINST THE COVETOUS. 

Though, more opulent than the untouched treasures 
of the Arabians, and rich India, yon should oc- 
cupy with your csementa§§ all the Tyrrhenian and 

* At the new moon t Household Gods. J Od. I. 1. § Od 18. 

|| Autumn 1T Od. 13. ** Rosemary. 

tt Bidentium — Substantively, for bidentium (from bis and dens) 

avium sheep having two teeth, or, biennium (from bis and annus) 

ovium, sheep of two years. JJ Od. II. 4. §§ Od. III. 1. 



88 THE THIED BOOK OF ODES. 

the Apulian sea, if dire Necessity fixes her adaman- 
tine spikes* in the highest heads, you shall not extri- 
cate your mind from dread, you shall not extricate 
your head from the snares of Death. 

The Scythse of the plain, whose waggons according- 
to-custom draw their wandering houses, live better 
and the rigid Getse : for whom unmeasured acres 
bear free fruits and Corn, nor culture longer than 
annual pleases ; and a successor relieves him having 
discharged his labors, by equal lot.f 

There an innocent J mother mixes § for step- 
children deprived-of their mother: nor does a dowered 
wife rule her husband, nor confide-in a neat adulterer : 
there a dowry is the great virtue of parents, and a 
chastity by faithful compact dreading another man, 
and to sin an impiety, or the price to die. 

O whoever shall be-willing to remove impious 
slaughters, and civic rage, if he shall seek to be-sub- 
scribed to || statues "The Father Of Cities," he should 
dare to refrain untamed licence %, illustrious to de- 
scendants : since, Oh impiety, ice hate virtue unim- 
paired, removed from our eyes we envious seekAer. 

What do sad complaints profit, if crime is not cut- 
off by punishment ? 

What do laws, without morals vain, profit ; if nei- 
ther the part of the world enclosed by fervid heats**, 
nor the side bordering-upon Boreas f f, and snows 

* Od. I. 35. + In turn. J Without injuring them. 
§ Cups. |j Written under, inscribed upon. IT Licentiousness. 

.** The torrid zone. tt The North- wind— the frigid zone. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 89 

hardened upon the soil, drive-off the merchant ? if 
skilful sailors overcome the horrid seas ? if poverty a 
great reproach commands us both to do and suffer 
anything, and deserts the way of arduous virtue ? 

Either let us cast into the Capitol, where clamor 
calls and a crowd of favoring citizens, or let us cast 
into the nearest sea our gems, and stones, and use- 
less gold, the material of the greatest evil, if well it- 
repents us of our crimes. 

The elements of depraved desire are to-be-erased; 
and the too tender minds to-be-formed by the rougher 
studies. 

The ingenuousf youth unskilled knows-not-how to 
stick to a horse, and fears to hunt, more-skilled to 
play, either-if yow command with the Grecian troquet, 
or-ifyow prefer with the die forbidden by the laws: 
when the perjured faith of the father can deceive 
his partner, companion and friend, and hasten money 
for an unworthy heir. 

Truly, dishonest riches increase : yet I know-not 
what§ always is-absent-from their short|| property. 



ODE XXV. 

TO BACCHUS. 

Whither, O Bacchus, dost thou hurry me, full of 
thee ? into what groves, or into what caves am / 
driven, swift with a new mind ? 

* Precious stones, or, pearls. t Well born. 

t A hoop for playing with, a Greek invention. § Something. 

|| Defective. 

i3 



90 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

In what caverns shall / be-heard meditating the 
eternal honor of excellent Caesar to insert him in 
the stars and council of Jupiter ? 

/ will utter something distinguished, recent, 
hitherto unuttered by other mouth. 

Not otherwise in the mountains the sleepless Evias * 
is-astonished, beholding Hebrus, and Thrace white 
with snow, and Rhodope traversed by barbarian 
foot. 

How it-pleases me wandering to admire the banks 
and vacant grove ! 

O thou ruling-over the Naiades, and the Bacchse 
able with their hands to overturn high ashes ! nothing 
little or of humble measure, will I speak-of, nothing 
mortal will / speak-of. 

Ic-is a sweet peril, Lenseusf ! to follow the God 
surrounding his temples with the verdant vine-leaf. 



ODE XXVI. 

TO VENUS. 

/ lived lately serviceable to the girls, and served 
not without glory : now my arms, and lyre discharged- 
from war this wall shall have, which guards the left 
side of marine Venus. J 

* Bacchanal. t Bacchus. 

X The side of the temple of marine Venus on the left with respect 
to the statue of the Goddess. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 91 

Here, here place ye the shining torches*, and 
bars*, and bows* menacing opposed doors. 

Goddess, who possessest blessed Cyprus, and 
Memphis free-from Sithonian snow, Queen, touch 
you once with upraised scourge the arrogant Chloe. 



ODE XXVII. 

TO GALATEA. 

May the omen of the singing parraf lead impious 
men, and the pregnant bitch, or the tawny she-wolf 
running-down from the Lanuvian land, and a fox 
with-young: and the serpent break their appointed 
journey, if like an arrow obliquely J it has terrified 
the horses. 

I, for her for whom / shall fear, a provident 
augur, before the bird prophetic of impending showers 
revisits the standing marshes, by prayer will excite 
the singing-bird the raven from the rising of the 
sun§. 

It-is-lawful that you may be happy, wherever you 
may prefer, and live mindful of us, O Galatea': and 
you neither may the left]] woodpecker forbid to go, 
nor the wandering crow. 

* The "arms." t An unlucky bird. % Per obliquum. — Adverbally. 
§ Will pray that the raven may sing from the east — the propitious 
point. || On the left— unpropitious. 



92 THE THIRD BOOK OE ODES. 

But you see, with, how-great tumult prone Orion 
hastens. 

I know, what the black bay of Hadria* is, and how 
serene Iapyx* can offend. 

Let the wives and children of our enemies feel the 
blind motions of the rising Austerf, and the mur- 
muring of the black sea, and the banks trembling with 
the lashj. 

Thus § too Europe || -trusted her snowy side to the 
deceitful bull^[, and bold paled-at the sea abounding 
with beasts and the frauds in-the-midst.** 

Lately in the meadows studious of flowers, and a 
composer of a crown due to the nymphs, in the 
glimmering night, she saw nothing except stars and 
waves. Who as-soon-as she touched Crete powerful 
with a hundred cities, overcome with fury, said, "O 
Father, relinquished name of daughter, and piety ! 
Whence ? W'hither have i" come ? 

" One death is light for the crime of virgins. 

"Do I awake deplore a foul crime ? or does a vain 
imageff delude me free-from vices, which flying from 
the ivory gate brings a dream|J ? 

" Has-it-been better to go through the long waves, 
or gather fresh flowers ? 

"If anyone now would give-up to me angry the 
imfamous bull, I would endeavour to lacerate him 

* Od. I. 3. + Od II. 14. t Of the sea. 

§ With temerity. || Daughter of Agenor, King of Phoenicia. 

1T Jupiter changed into a hull. 
** Discovered when in the midst of the sea. tt Body less form. 
Jt Dreams were said to issue from Hades by two gates — the true 
through a gate of horn— the false through on e of ivory. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. V6 

with iron, and break the horns of the monster lately 
much loved ! 

•'Impudent, / left my paternal Penates* ! Impu- 
dent, /retard Orcus| ! 

" if thou anyone of the Gods hearest these words, 
I- wish i" might wander naked among lions ! 

"Before ugly leanness siezes my comely cheeks, 
and the moisture of the tender prey flows-away, 
beautiful, / seek to feed tigers. 

" Vile Europe," an absent father urges, " why do 
you hesitate to die ? You can break your neck hang- 
ing from this ash with the girdle happily having 
followed you. Or-if a cliff and rocks sharp with 
death delight you, come you, trust you yourself to 
the swift storm : unless you, royal blood, would pre- 
fer to card a mistress's wool|, and to be-given-up a 
concubine§ to a barbarian mistress." 

Perfidiously smiling Venus was-present to her com- 
plaining, and her Son|| with relaxed bow. Presently' 
when she played sufficiently, "Abstain you," she said, 
"from resentments, and warm quarrel, since the 
bull hated by you will give-up his horns to-be- 
torn. 

"Do you who art the wife of unconquered Jupiter 
not-know that-you are ? 

* Od. II. 4. t Od. I. 2S. 

J Pensum. — Anything weighed, hence work, in carding, because 
the wool was weighed— the wool. 

§ Favourite of the husband, and slave of the mistress. 
|| Cupid. Od. I. 30, 32. 



94 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

" Omit you sobbings : learn you well to bear your 
great fortune : the divided world shall take your 
names*." 



ODE XXVIII. 

TO LYDE. 

What better can / do on the festive day of Neptune? 

Produce you,- O strenuous Lyde, the stored-up 
Ceecuban wine, and apply violence to fortified wis- 
dom f. 

You perceive that-mid-day declines : and, as-if the 
swift day stands, you spare to take-down from the 
storej the loitering amphora § of Bibulus the 
Cousul.|| 

We will sing in-turn Neptune, and the green hairs 
of the Nereids : you shall sing with your curved lyre 
Latona, and the darts of fleet Cynthia : at the end-of 
the song, she shall be celebrated, who possesses 
Gnidos and the shining Cycladae,^[ and visits Paphos 
with joined swans-**: Night too shall be-celebrated 
with a merited dirgeff- 

* A section of the g'cbe shall bear your name. 

+ Do violence to your firm philosophy. 

J In the upp.T part of the house. 

§ Od. III. 8. 

|| Containing wine of the year in which Bibulus was consul. 

IT Od. 1. 14. 

** Venus. 

tt Od. II. 1. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 95 



ODE XXIX. 

TO MAECENAS. 

Tyrrhenian progeny of kings, Maecenas, you now 
long-since have with me mild wine in a cask not 
before turned*, with the flower of roses, and 
balanust pressed for your hairs. 

Snatch you yourself from delay : not always you 
should contemplate moist Tibur, and the sloping 
field of iEsula, and the hills of Telegonus the parri- 
cide. Desert you fastidious abundance, and the pile 
neighbouring the high clouds \\ leave-off you to admire 
the smoke and riches and noise of blest Rome. 
Changes generally agreeable to rich persons, and 
neat suppers beneath the small dwelling of poor 
men, without curtains§ and purple, have unfolded the 
anxious forehead ||. 

Now the clear father of Andromeda^ shews his 
hidden fire: now Procyon** rages, and the star of the 
raving Lion**, the sun bringing-back the dry days. 
Now the shepherd with languid flock wearied seeks 
the shades and the river, and the thickets of rough 
Silvan us If: and the silent bank is-free-from wan- 
dering winds. 

* Verso. — For inverso, inverted , turned up — tapped, 
t A nut from which an oil was expressed — oil of balanus. 

X The lofty palace. § Canopies. Sat. II. 8. 

|| Smoothed the anxious brow. % Cepheus, a constellation. 

** A constellation, 
tt The thickets over which Silvanus, a God of woods, with rough 
crown and branch, preiides. 



96 THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 

You regard, what constitution may suit the state, 
and anxious fear for the City, what the Seres and 
Bactra ruled by Cyrus may be-preparing, and dis- 
cordant Tanais. A prudent God covers the issue of 
future time with misty night: and smiles, if a 
mortal is-anxious beyond right. 

What is-present, remember you to compose with- 
equanimity: other things are-borne in the manner 
of a river, now in the middle-of the channel with 
peace gliding-down to the Etruscan sea, now rolling 
together corroded stones, and carried-away stocks, 
and cattle, and houses, not without the clamor* of 
mountains, and the neighbouring wood, when the 
wild deluge irritatesf the quiet rivers. 

He shall live ruling-over himself^ and joyful, to 
whom it-is-permitted for the day to have said, "/ 
have lived §: tomorrow let the Father || occupy the 
sky either with a black cloud, or clear sun: he shall 
not however make invalid, whatever is formerly; 
nor remake, and render undone, what the fleeting 
hour once has carried away. 

Fortune delighting in her cruel business, and per- 
tinacious to play her insolent game, transfers her un- 
certain honors, now benign to me, now benign to 
another. / praise her remaining : if she shakes her 
swift wings^I, / resign the things which she gave, and 
enwrap myself in my virtue, and seek honest 
poverty without a dowry. 

* Echo. \ Swells. I Master of himself. 

§ I have enjoyed the blessings of life. || Jupiter. IT Takes flight. 



THE THIRD BOOK OF ODES. 97 

It-is not mine* if the mast should groan with the 
African* storms, to resort to piteous prayers, and 
bargain by vows, that my Cyprian and Tyrian wares 
may not add riches to the avaricious sea. Then me, 
safe in the protection of a two oared skiff, the breeze 
will bear, and the twin Pollux J, through the iEgean 
tumults. 



ODE XXX. 

HIS PRESAGE OF IMMORTALITY. 

/ have executed a monument more-enduring than 
brass, and higher than the regal site of the pyra- 
mids §; which not the edacious || rain can destroy, 
not the impotent Aquilo^f can destroy, or an innume- 
rable series of years, and the flight of seasons. 

/shall not all die: and much part of me shall 
escape Libitina**. 

Always fresh I shall increase in the praise of pos- 
terity, while the pontiff shall ascend the Capitol with 
the silent Virgin+f . 

* I have no need, 
t South-western. Od. I. 1. 
X A constellation. 

§ The pyramids raised by Egyptian kings. 
|| Wasting. 
IF Od. I. 3. 

** The Goddess of funerals— death. 

ft Every month the Pontifex Maximus performed the sacred 
rites in the Capitol, accompanied by a silent Vestal Virgin. 
K 



98 THE THIRD BOOK OP ODES. 

Where the violent Aufidus resounds, and where 
Daunus poor-in water ruled rustic peoples, / potent 
from a humble parent, shall be-said first to have 
brought-down the JEolian verse to Italian mea- 
sures*. 

Assume you the pride acquired by merits, and wil- 
ling surround my hair with a Delphic laurel, O Mel- 
pomene. 

* Adapted the Greek poetry to the Roman measures. 



THE FOURTH BOOK 



THE ODES. 



ODE I. 



TO VENUS. 



O Venus, again thou art moving wars long inter- 
mitted. Spare thou, I pray, / pray ! / am not, such- 
as / was under the reign of good Cinara. Leave-off 
you, cruel mother of the sweet Cupids, to bend me 
about ten lustra* now hard for thy soft commands. 
Depart thou, whither the soothing prayers of youths 
recall thee. 

More-seasonably thou swift with purplef swans, 
wilt revel to the house of Paullus Maximus, if thou 
seekest to scorch a serviceable liver*. For both noble, 
and comely, and for anxious defendants not silent, 
and a youth of a hundred arts, widely he will bear 

» Abou fifty. Od. II. 4. t Purpureis.— For bright. 

t The seat of love. 



100 THE FOURTH BCOK OF ODES. 

the standards of thy service; arid, whenever more- 
powerful than the large gifts of a rival he shall have 
laughed, he will place you in-marble near the 
Albanian lakes, under a beam of citron.* There 
you shall drawf with your nostrils very-much 
frankincense, and be-delighted with the mixed songs 
of the lyre and Berecyntian pipe, not without the 
flute ; there twice in the day boys with tender vir- 
gins praising your divinity, with white foot after the 
manner of the SaliiJ thrice shall shake the ground. 

Me neither woman, nor youth now, nor the credu- 
lous hope of mutual affection, nor to contend in 
wine delights, nor to bind my temples with new 
flowers. 

But why, ah ! Ligurinus, why does the rare tear 
flow over my cheeks ? Why does my eloquent 
tongue fall between my words with a silence little 
becoming ? In my nightly dreams I now hold you 
caught, now / pursue you flying through the grasses 
of the Campus Martius, you, harsh one, through 
the rolling waters. 



ODE II. 

TO ITJLUS ANTONIUS. 

Whoever studies to emulate Pindar, O lulus, en- 
deavours with wings waxed by aid Dedalean, § 
about-to-give names to the vitreous || sea. 

* In a temple with roof of citron. t Draw in, snuff up. 

J Od. I. 36. § Od. 1. 3. || Glassy. 



THE FOUIU'H EOOK OF ODES. 101 

Like-as a river running-down from a mountain, 
which showers have nourished above the known 
banks, Pindar rages, and immense rushes with pro- 
found mouth*: to-be- presented with the laurel of 
Apollo, whether through daring dithyrambicsf he 
rolls-down new words, and is-borne in numbers freed 
from law: whether he sings the Gods, or kings, the 
blood of the Gods, through whom the CentauriJ fell 
by a just death, through whom the flame of the Chi- 
msera to-be-feared fell : or celebrates those whom 
the Elean palm§ brings-back home celestials ||, or 
the pugilist or the horse, and presents them with a 
gift better than a hundred statues: or deplores a 
youth snatched from his weeping bride, and raises 
his powers and mind and golden morals to the stars, 
and denies him to black Orcus.^I 

A great breeze elevates the Dircsean swan** O 
Antonius, as-often-as he goes into the high tracts of 
the clouds : I, in the custom and manner of the 
Matinian bee, gathering the grateful thyme by very- 
much labor, about the grove and banks of the moist 
Tibur, small, make elaborate verses. 

You a poet of a greater quillff shall sing Caesar, 
whenever lie shall drag the ferocious Sygambri along 
the sacred hill,|| ornamented with his merited o bough; 
than whom nothing greater or better the fates have 

* A mouth, from which, as from a deep sping, flows a flood of 
words. \ Verses in praise of Bacchus. t Centaurs. 

§ The palm won at Olympia, in Elis. 

|| As happy as the Gods Od. 1. 1. f Od. I. 28. ** Pindar. 

tf Od. I. 26. XX To the Capiloi, in triumph. 

k'3 



102 THE FOURTH BOOK OF OEES. 

given to the lands, and the good Gods, nor will give, 
though the times should return to their former gold.* 
You shall sing both festive days, and the public 
game Of The City, upon the implored return of the 
brave Augustus, and the forum destitute-of suits. 

Then, if / can sing anything to-be-heard, a good 
part of my voice shall be-added: and, "O beautiful 
sun, O to-be-praised," / will sing, happy, Caesar 
being received. And while you proceed, "Oh 
triumph," not once we will say, "Oh triumph," all 
the city" shall say, and ice will give frankincense to 
the benign Gods. 

You ten bulls, and as-many cows shall absolve, me 
a tender calf shall absolve, the mother being-left, 
which grows -up in large pastures for my vows, imita- 
ting with the forehead the curved fires of the moon 
bringing-back the third risingf, where he has taken 
a mark, snowy to be-seen, as-to other parts tawny. 



ODE HI. 

TO MELPOMENE. 

Whom you, O Melpomene, at-birth once shall have 
viewed with placid eye, him not the Isthmian laborj 

* The golden age. 

t Resembling with young horns the crescent of the moon three 
days old. 

X Contest in the Isthmian games, at Corinth, named from the 
Isthmus of Corinth. 



THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 103 

shall enoble as a pugilist; not a swift horse shall 
draw him in an Achaic chariot as a victor; nor shall 
a warlike action show him to the Capitol as a leader 
adorned with Delian leaves, because he shall have 
crushed the swelling threats of kings : but the waters 
which flow-by fertile Tibur, and the thick leaves of 
the groves, shall make him noble by the JEolian 
verse. 

The offspring of Rome the princess of cities 
deigns to place me among the amiable bands of 
poets : and now / less am-bitten by the envious 
tooth. 

O Pieris,* who rulest the sweet sound of the 
golden lyref! O you, about-to-give even to mute 
fishes, if it-should-please, the voice of the swan ! 
This is all of your gift, that / am-pointed-at by the 
finger of persons passing-by as the harper of the 
Roman lyre: that / breathe, and please, if / please, 
is yours. 



ODE IV. 

THE PRAISES OF JDRUSUS. 

SucH-as the winged minister of lightning {, — to 
whom the king of the Gods has committed the 
sovereignty over the wandering birds, Jupiter having 
experienced him faithful concerning beautiful Gany- 
mede!, — sometimes youth and paternal vigor has 

* Muse— from Pieria, sacred to the Muse?, t Testudinis. — Od. I. 32. 
T The eagle. § In conveying him to Olympus. 



104 1HE FOtRTII BOOK OF ODES. 

propelled ignorant of labors from his nest, and the 
vernal winds, now the storms being removed, have 
taught, fearful, unaccustomed efforts : soon lively- 
impetuosity has dispatched him as an enemy to the 
sheepfolds; now a love of food and fight has driven 
him upon the reluctant dragons: or such-as a she- 
goat intent on joyful pastures, has seen a lion lately 
driven-from the rich milk of his tawny mother, about- 
to-perish by his new tooth : the Vindelici sawDrusus 
carrying-on wars under the Rhcetian Alps ; to whom 
whence the custom has-been derived which through 
every age arms their righthands with the Amazo- 
nian axe, / have deferred to inquire ; nor is-it right 
to know all things ; but long and widely victorious 
troops, reconquered by the counsels of a youth*, felt, 
what a mind rightly nurtured could-do, what a dis- 
position nurtured under favorable penetralia f could- 
do, what the paternal affection of Augustus towards 
the youths the NeronesJ could-do. 

Brave men are-created by brave and good men : 
there is in steers, there is in horses, the virtue of their 
lathers : nor do the ferocious eagles procreate the un- 
warlike dove. But instruction promotes the im- 
planted power, and right cultivations strengthen 
breasts : whenever morals have failed, crimes dis- 
grace things well born. 

What you may owe, O Rome, to the NeronesJ, the 
river Metaurus is a witness, and Hasdrubal defeated, 

~ Duisus. f Cd. II. U. t Neros — Drusus and Claudius. 



THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 105 

and that day beautiful the darkness being put-to- 
flight from Latium, which first smiled with fine 
adorea*, when the dire Africanf rode through the 
Italian cities, as a flame through pines, or EurusJ 
over the Sicilian waves. 

After this thing the Roman youth increased con- 
tinually in successful labors, and fanes wasted by the 
impious tumult of the Poeni§ had their Gods erect|| : 
and at-length the perfidious Hannibal said : " Like 
stags, the prey of rapacious wolves, we follow volun- 
tarily, those whom to deceive and escape is a rich 
triumph. 

"The nation, which brave from burnt Ilium, % 
tossed by the Tuscan seas, transported its sacred 
things, and sons and aged fathers, to the Ausonian 
cities : as an ilex** lopped by hard axes in Algidus 
fertile-in dark foliage, through losses, through 
slaughters, draws powers and spirit from the very 
iron. 

" Not the Hydra its body being cut increased more- 
firm upon Hercules grieving to be -conquered : or 
have the Colchi sent-up a greater monster, or 
Echionian Thebae.ff 

" If you should immerge it in the depth, it comes- 

out more-beautiful : if you should wrestle, with much 

praise it will overthrow the entirejj victor, and 

carry-on battles to-be-spoken-of by wives. 

" Now I can not send proud messengers to Carthage : 

* Corn distributed to the soldiers after a victory — victory, 

t Hannibal. I Od. I. 25. § Od. III. 5. 

!l Upright — restored to their former position 1T Od. I. 10. 
** Od. III. 13. ft Od. I. 7 .%% Unhurt, fresh. 



106 THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 

it is-fallen, all the hope and fortune of our name is- 
fallen, Hasdrubal being killed. 

" There is nothing Claudian hands will not perform : 
which both Jupiter defends with his benign divinity, 
and sagacious cares expedite through the acute 
things of war." 



ODE V. 

TO AUGUSTUS. 

O you sprung-from good Gods, best guardian of the 
Romulean nation, you are-absent now too long : hav- 
ing promised a mature * return to the sacred council 
of the Fathers-}-, return you. 

Restore you the light, O good leader, to your coun- 
try : for like Spring when your countenance has 
appeared, the day goes more-agreeable to the people, 
and the suns shine better. 

Asa mother, with vows, and omens, and prayers, 
calls her youth, whom Notus \ with envious blowing 
detains from his sweet home, tarrying longer than 
the space of a year beyond the waters of the Carpa- 
thian sea, nor moves-away her face from the curved 
shore : so struck with faithful longings his country 
seeks Caesar. 

For the ox safe perambulates the fields : Ceres 
nourishes the fields, and benign Favor: the sailors 

* Speedy. t Od. III. 5. t Od. I. 3. 



THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 107 

fly over the peaceable sea : Faith dreads to be-blamed: 
the chaste house is-polluted by no adulteries : mo- 
rality and the law has subdued polluted impiety: 
child- bearing- women are-praised by a similar off- 
spring : Punishment as a companion presses crime. 

Who can fear the Parthian ? who can fear the cold 
Scythian? who can fear the offsprings whom horrid 
Germany brings-forth, Caesar being safe ? who can 
regard the war of fierce Iberia ? 

Everyone closes the day among his-own hills, and 
leads* the vine to the widowed freest: hence he 
returns joyful to his wines, and takes you as a God 
to| the other § tables|| : you with many a prayer he 
pursues, you he pursues with wine pour ed-down /row 
goblets : and mixes your divinity with the Lares^], as 
Grsecia** mindful of Castor and great Hercules. 

O would-that, good leader, you may preserve 
long holydays to Hesperiaff ! we say when dryJJ in- 
the-morning the day being entire, we say when 
moist§§, when the Sun is-under|||| the Ocean. 



ODE VI. 

TO APOLLO. 

O God, whom the offspring of Niobe felt an avenger 
of a great^[^[ tongue, and Tity^s the ravisher felt, and 

* Trains. + Widowed, because the vines had not been trained to them. 

t Adhibet. — Takes-to- § Second. 

|| On which the wines were placed. Takes fyc — Invokes you as a 

God with libations. 11 Od. III. 23. ** OJ. I. 15. ft Cd. II. 1. 

It Sober. §§ With wine— drunk. Od. II. 19. 

HII Is sunk beneath. 5IH Vaunting. 



108 



THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 



Phthian Achilles nearly the conqueror of high Troy, 
greater than the rest, as a soldier unequal to thee, 
though son of marine Thetis he shook the Dardan 
towers fighting with his spear to-be-feared. 

He, as a pine struck by the biting iron, or a cypress 
impelled by Eurus* fell-down widely, and laid his 
neck in the Trojan dust. 

He, enclosed in a horse feigning sacred things of 
Minerva, would not have deceived the Trojans badly 
keeping-holy day and the hall of Priam joyful with 
dances: but openly terrible to captive persons, Oh 
impiety! Oh! would have burned children not- 
knowing-how to speak, with Grecian flames, even 
concealed in the womb of the mother ; unless, over- 
come by your words and the words of agreeable 
Venus, the Father of the Godsf had granted to the 
affairs of ^Eneas walls built with a better bird*. 

O lyrist teacher of Argive Thalia, Phoebus, who 
lavest thy hairs in the river Xanthus, defend thou 
the honor of the Daunian Muse, smooth § Agyieus. 

Phoebus gave to me spirit, Phoebus gave to me the 
art of song, and the name of poet. 

O ye first of virgins, and youths sprung -from illus- 
trious fathers, care of the Delian Goddess||, stopping 
the fleeing lynxes and stags with the bow, observe ye 
the Lesbian foot^I, and the stroke of my thumb**, 
duly singing the son of Latonaff, duly singing ^soc- 
tiluca|| increasing with her torch§§, prospering fruits, 
and swift to roll the prone months. 

* Od. 1. 25. t Jupiter. X Od. III. 3. § Beardless. || Diana. 
U Measure. ** On the lyre, tt Apollo, it Diana. §§ The Moon- 



THE FOURTH BOOK OP ODES. 109 

You a wife soon will say: "I, apt-to-learn the 
measures of the poet Horace, have recited an ode 
agreeable to the Gods, the age bringing-back the fes- 
tive days." 

♦_ 

ODE VII. 

TO TORQUATUS. 

The snows have fled-away : the grasses now return 
to the plains, and the leaves to the trees : the earth 
changes its states: and the decreasing streams go-by 
the banks:* the Grace with the Nymphs and twin 
Sisters dares naked to lead the dances. 

That you should notf expect things immortal, the 
Year admonishes, and HoraJ who hurries-away the 
charming day. 

The colds become-mild with the Zephyrs: Summer 
treads-upon Spring, about-to-perish, as-soon-as fruit- 
bearing Autumn shall have poured-forth its fruits : 
and soon inert winter recurs. 

Yet the swift moons repair the celestial losses : we, 
when we have fallen-down, where pious iEneas has 
fallen-down, where rich Tullus and Ancus have fallen- 
doion, are dust and shade. 

Who knows, whether the Gods above may add-to 
to-day's sum tomorrow's times ? 

All things will escape the greedy hands of your 
heir, which you shall have given to your friendly 
mind§. 

* Flow within the banks. + JVe. — That not. 

The Hour, as a Goddess. § Indulged to your friendly inclination, 

L 



110 THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 

When once you shall have died, and Minos shall 
have made splendid judgments concerning you; not, 
O Torquatus, family, not eloquence shall restore you, 
not piety shall restore you. For neither does Diana 
free chaste Hippolytus from infernal darkness : nor 
is Theseus able* to break-off Lethsean bonds from 
dear Pirithous. 



ODE VIH. 

TO CENSORINUS. 

Accommodating I could present, Censorinus, 
goblets and agreeable vases to my friends : / could 
present tripods, the rewards of the brave Graii : nor 
might you bear away the worst of the presents, I 
being rich indeed inf the arts, which either Parrhasius 
produced, or Scopas, the latter skilful with stone, the 
former with liquid colors skilful now to represent a 
man, now a God. But I have not this power, nor 
have you a fortune, or a mind needing such delights. 

You delight in verses : verses we can give, and tell 
the price of the gift. 

Not marbles cut-inj with public marks§, by 
which breath and life returns to good leaders after 
death; not the swift flights, and threats of Hannibal 
thrown back, not the stipends || of impious Carthage, 
more-clearly indicate the praises of him^T, who having 
gained a name** from conquered Africa returned, 

* Valet. — Is-able. t Divite. — Rich-in. J Engraved. 

§ Inscriptions. li Tributes. ^f Scipio, ** Africanus. 



THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. Ill 

than the Calabrian Pierides*: nor, if writings should 
be-silent, should you have received the reward of 
that, which you may have well done. 

What might the son of Ilia and Mavors be, if 
silence envious withstood the merits of Romulus ? 

iEacus snatched-from the Stygian wavest, the vir- 
tue, and favor, and tongue of powerful poets, conse- 
crates to the rich islands}. 

The Muse forbids that-a-man worthy-of praise 
should die : the Muse makes-happy in heaven. Thus§ 
active Hercules is-at the wished-for banquets of- 
Jupiter : the Tyndaridse^I the clear constellation 
snatch shattered vessels from the lowest waters : 
Libert adorned as-to his temples with verdant vine- 
leaf brings vows to good issues. 



ODE IX. 

TO LOLLIUS. 



Do not you haply believe that-these words are about- 
to-perish, which, born at the far sounding Aufidus, 
I utter by arts not before divulged** to-be-accom- 
panied by strings. 

* Muses. Od. III. 
t From oblivion. 

t The naKapoov vrjCTOL, islands of the blest, in the Elysian plains, 
of the earlier Mythology. 

§ Equivalent to carminibus poetarum, by the songs of poets. 
IF Understand sic, thus, at the beginning of this clause. 
** Lyrics, first introduced into the Latin language by me. 



112 THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 

Not, if Maeonian Homer holds the first-seats*, are 
the Pindaric Songs hidf, and the Cean Songs, and the 
menacing Songs of Alcaeus, and the grave Songs of 
Stesichorus : nor, if formerly Anacreon played % any- 
thing, has time effaced it : the love breathes still, 
and the ardors of the JEolian maid § committed to 
the strings live. 

Not alone has Helene the Lacedeemonian burnt 
admiring the combed hairs of an adulterer, and gold 
laid-over vestments, and regal ornaments, and at- 
tendants : or first has Teucer directed arrows with a 
Cydonian bow : not once has Ilios |j been wasted : not 
great Idomeneus alone has fought or Sthenelus battles 
to-be-sung by the Muses : not fierce Hector, or sharp 
Deiphobus first received grievous strokes for modest 
wives and children. 

Many brave men lived before Agamemnon; but all 
unwept and unknown are-urged % by long night,** 
because they want a sacred poet. Concealed virtue 
little differs from buried sloth. ff 

I will not pass-in-silence you unadorned by my 
writings, or suffer that envious oblivions diminish 
your so-many labors with-impunity, Loliius. 

You have a mind both prudent-in affairs, and righttj 
in prosperous and doubtful times : an avenger of 
avaricious fraud, and abstinent-in money drawing all 

* The first place. 

Latent. — Are-hid— are obscure. J Wrote. { Sappho. 

P Od. I. 10. 1T Are overwhelmed. ** Obscurity. 

tt Inertia. — The dative for ab inertia — a Grecism. 

XX Firm and consistent. 



THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 113 

things to itself: and a consul not of one year* but 
as-often-as the good and faithful judge has preferred 
the honest thing to the useful thing, and rejected 
with a lofty look the gifts of noxious men, and through 
withstanding troopsf as a conqueror exhibited his 
arms J. 

Not him possessing many things you rightly shall 
have called a blest man : more-rightly he occupies 
the name of blest man, who knows-how wisely to use 
the gifts of the Gods, and bear hard poverty, and 
fears disgrace worse than death: he is not timid to 
perish for dear friends or country. 



ODE X. 

T LIGUTIINUS. 

Oyou cruel still, and potent by the gifts§, of Venus, 
when the unexpected plumeij shall come to your 
prided, and the hairs, which now flow-upon your 
shoulders, shall have fallen-off, and the color, which 
now is better than the flower of the red rose, changed, 
shall have turned Ligurinus into a rough face ; you 
will say, "Alas!" as-often-as you shall have seen 
yourself another** in the mirror, ''the mind which is 

* A personification of the mind of Lollius, which, after his con- 
sulate, continuing to practise the virtues becoming the station, may 
be said to retain it. 

t Difficulties. J Virtues. § Favors. 

II Down. IT Upon your cheeks. ** Changed 

L 3 



114 THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 

to-day, why has it not been the same to me a youth ? 
or why do not my cheeks return unimpaired to these 
sentiments?" 



ODE XI. 

TO PHYLLIS. 

I have a cask full of Albanian icine surpassing the 
ninth year : there is in my garden, Phyllis, parsley 
for knitting crowns : there is much plenty of 
ivy, with which bound-back as-to your hairs you will 
shine.* The house smiiesf with silver : the altar 
bound with chaste vervains desires % to be-sprinkled 
with the immolated lamb. Every hand hastens : 
hither and thither the girls mixed with boys run •' 
the flames tremble whirling the sordid smoke in a 
point. 

That yet you may know, to what joys you may be- 
invited : the Ides are to-be-spent by you, which day 
divides April the month of Marine Venus; with 
justice solemn to me, and more-sacred almost than 
my-own birth-day§, because from this day my Maece- 
nas reckons his flowing years. 

Telephus, whom you seek, not a youth of your 
rank, a rich and wanton girl has occupied, and holds 
bound by an agreeable fetter. Scorched Phaeton 

* Appear beautiful. The future of the old Lucretian xeibfulgo, 
of the third conjugation. J Shines, please. 

X Is waiting. § Natuli. — Substantively. 



THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 115 

terrifies avaricious hopes : and winged Pegasus 
affords a grave example, having disdained his 
earthly rider Bellerophon, that always you should 
follow things worth y-of you, and, by thinking that- 
it-is an impiety to hope more than it-is-lawful, avoid 
an unequal*. 

Come you now, end of my loves, for / will not 
hereafter be-inflamed with another woman, learn 
you measures, which you may recite with your voice 
to-be-lovedt: black cares shall be-diminished by a 
song. 



ODE XII. 

TO VIBGILIUSj. 

Now Spring's companions, which rule the sea, the 
Thracian winds, impel the sails: now neither the 
meadows are-stiff, nor the rivers sound swollen by 
wintry snow. The unhappy bird §, mournfully be- 
moaning Itys, and the eternal reproach of the Ce- 
cropian|| house, because wickedly she avenged the 
barbarous lusts of kings, builds her nest. In the 
tender grass the keepers of the fat shep play songs 
with the flute, and delight the God, whom cattle and 
the dark hills of Arcadia please %. 

* Disparem —Substantively. t Lovely. 

t Od. I. 3. § Progne changed into a nightingale. 

|| Progne was daughter of Pandion, king of Athens. Od. II. 1. 

1T Pan, or Faunus. Od. I. 17. 



116 THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 

The seasons have brought-on thirst, Yirgilius* : 
but if you desire to quaff Wine pressed at Cales, the 
clientf of noble youths, you shall merit wines by 
nard J. A small onyx § of nard shall elicit || a cask, 
which now lies in Sulpician % stores, bountiful to give 
new hopes, and efficacious to wash-away the bitter 
things of cares**. To which joys if you hasten, come 
you quick with your merchandize : I do not meditate 
to tinge you with my cups without-charge, as a rich 
man in a full house. But do you lay-aside delays, 
and the study of lucre; and mindful of the black 
fires ff, while it-is-allowed, mix a little folly with 
counsels : it-is a sweet thing to be-foolish in place. 



ODE XIII. 



O Lyce, the Gods have heard my vows J %, the 
Gods have heard, O Lyce. You are-become an old- 
woman, and yet wish to seem beautiful, and play, 
and impudent drink, and drunk solicit slow §§ Cupid 
with tremulous singing. He lies-out |||| on the fair 
cheeks of the Chian girl blooming and taught to 

* Od I. 3. + Favourite. 

J You shall have wine, if you bring nard. 

§ Alabaster — an alabaster box. || Draw forth. 

1T Of Su'picius, a wine-merchant 

** Amara curarum. — A Grecism for umaras citrus, bitter cares. 

ft The funeral pyre — death. JJ Prayers. §§ Slow to hear you 

llll Stations himself — keeps guard. 



THE FOURTH BOOK OF ODES. 117 

play-on-tho-lyre. For unmannerly he flies-over arid 
oaks, and flees you, because lurid teeth disfigure you, 
because wrinkles and the snows of the head* disfi- 
gure you. 

Neither Coan purples restore now to you, nor 
clear stonesf, the times, which orce swift Time has 
enclosed stored in the known registers. 

Whither has Beauty fled ? alas ! or whither color? 
or whither becoming motion? What have you of 
her, her, who breathed Loves, who had ravished me 
from} myself, happy after Cinara, and known and a 
face of agreeable arts ? But the fates gave brief 
years to Cinara, long a bout-to-preserve Lyce equal 
to the times of the old crow : that fervid youths 
might be-able to view, not without much laughter, 
the torch having fallen-away to ashes. 



ODE XIV. 

TO AUGUSTUS. 

What care of the Fathers§, or what care of the Qui- 
rites ||, by gifts full of honors, Augustus, can per- 
petuate your virtues for an age by titles, and com- 
memorative registers ? 

0, wherever the sun illumines the habitable coasts, 
greatest of princes, whom the Vindelici free-from 

* Grey-hairs. \ Od. III. 24. 

X Surpuerat. — Ravislied-from. For Surripuerat. § Od. III. 5. 

|| Od. I. 1. 



118 THE FOUHTH BOOK OF ODES. 

Latin law learnt lately, what you could-do in War. 
For with your soldiery Drusus sharp more than a 
single time overthrew the Genauni, an unquiet race, 
and the swift Breuni, amid the citadels built-upon 
the tremendous Alps. 

The elder of the Nerones* soon commenced a 
grievous battle, and beat the fierce Rhaeti with 
favourable auspices; to-be-beheld in the contest of 
Mars, with how-great ruins he fatigued breasts 
devoted to a free death : nearly such-as Austerf 
exercises the untamed waves, the dance of the 
Pleiades^ cleaving the clouds, active to vex the troops 
of enemies, and send the neighing horse through the 
middle-of fires. 

So the bull-formed Aufidus§ is-rolled, who flows- 
by the kingdoms of Appulian Daunus, when he rages, 
and meditates a deluge to-be-dreaded by the culti- 
vated fields: as Claudius overthrew the iron-clad 
armies of the barbarians with vast attack, and by 
mowing the first and last men strewed the ground, 
a victor without loss ; you affording forces, you af- 
fording counsel, and your Gods |j. For, on the day 
which Alexandria suppliant opened to you her ports 
and vacant hail, fortune prosperous in the third lus- 
trum % rendered successful issues of the war, and 
arrogated praise and the wished-for honor to the ac- 
complished commands. 

* Od. 4. Tiberius. t Od. II. 14. 

t At the rising of the Pleiades, a constellation. 
§ Rivers were usually represented with the horns of a bull, from 
their form, roar, or, because called nepara Qfceavou, horns of the 
ocean. || The favor of your Gods. f Od. II. 4. 



THE FOURTH T.CQK OF ODES. 119 

Thee the Cantabrian not before tameable admires, 
and the Mede, and the Indian, thee the fleeing 
Scythian admires, present defence of Italy and 
mistress Rome : thee both the Nile, who conceals 
the origins of his fountains, hears*, and the Ister, thee 
the rapid Tigris hears*, thee the Ocean abound ing-in- 
beasts, which sounds-against the remote Britons, 
hears* : thee the land of Galliaf not fearing fune- 
rals, and hard Iberia hears * : thee the Sygambri 
r ejoicing in slaughter arms being laid-up venerate. 



ODE XV. 

THE PRAISES OF AUGUSTUS. 

Phozbus chid me wishing to sing battles, and con- 
quered cities, with the lyre, that / might not J set 
my small sails along the Tyrrhenian sea§. 

Your age, O Csesar, both has brought back rich 
fruits to the fields, and restored the standards|| to our 
Jupiter^, torn-from the superb posts** of the Parthians, 
and closed Janus Quirinusff free-from wars, and put 

* Obeys. t Gaul. J Ne.— That-not. 

§ Attempt a thing beyond ray powers and hazardous. 
|| An allusion to the restoration of the standards lost in the 
overthrow of Crassus. 

^T The deity under whose protection the city was placed— Jupiter 
C'apitolinus. ** Of the temples. 

tt The temple of Janus, built by Romulus, whenco called Qui- 
rinus, a name of Romulus, open in war and shut in peace. 



120 THE FOURTH BOOK OP ODES. 

reins upon* Licence wandering-out-of right order, 
and removed crimes, and recalled ancient arts; 
through which the Latin name and Italian powers 
have increased, and the fame and majesty of the 
empire has been extended to the rising of the sunf 
from the Hesperian couch. J 

* Caesar being guardian of affairs, not civil fury or 
violence shall expel ease, not anger, which forges 
swords, and makes-unfriendly miserable cities shall 
expel ease. 

Not those, who drink the profound Danubium§, 
shall break the Julian edicts, not the Getse, not the 
Seres, or unfaithful Persse, not those born near the 
river Tanais shall break the Julian edicts. And we 
both on common days and sacred days, among the 
gifts of jocose Liberjl, with offspring and our matrons, 
duly first having prayed-to the Gods, in the manner 
of our fathers, in a song accompanied by Lydian 
pipes, will sing leaders having shewn valor, and 
Troy, and Anchises, and the progeny of gracious 
Venus. 

* Injecit.— Put-upon. t The East. J The West. § Danube. 

II Od. I. 12. 



THE BOOK 



THE EPODES. 
ODE I. 

TO MAECENAS. 

Will you go, O friend, with Liburnian ships among 
the high, defences of ships*; prepared to undergo 
every peril of Caesar, Meecenas, at your peril? 
What shall we do? to whom, you surviving, life 
may be pleasant, if otherwise, grievous ? Whether 
shall we commanded pursue ease, not sweet, unless 
together with-you? or are we about-to-bear this 
labor, with the mind with which it-becomes that 
men not soft should bear? We will bear; and, with 
brave breast, follow you either over the summits of 
the Alps, and inhospitable Caucasus, or even to the 
farthest bay of the west, 

* The turreted ships of Antony. 



122 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

You may ask, what /, unwarlike and little firm, 
can assist your labor by my labor ? / am about-to-be 
your companion in less fear, which, greater* holdsf 
absent persons: as a bird sitting-by unfeathered 
young fears the approaches of serpents more they 
being left; not, though she should be-at-hand, about- 
to-bring more assistance to them present. Willingly 
this and every war shall be-served for the hope of 
your favor : not that my ploughs may labour bound- 
to more oxen; or my cattle before the fervid star 
may change Lucanian pastures for Calabrian pas- 
tures ; nor that a white villa may touchj the Circsean 
walls of upper Tusculum. Your benignity has en- 
riched me enough and more : / shall not have pre- 
pared §, what either, as avaricious Chremes, / may 
press with the earth ||, or, as a dissolute spendthrift, 
squander. 



ODE II. 

THE PRAISES OP A COUNTRY LIFE. 

" Blest is he, who far from negotiations, as the 
ancient race of mortals, ploughs paternal fields with 
his-own oxen, released from all usury ; neither as 
a soldier he is-excited by the harsh trumpet, nor does 
he dread the angry sea; and he shuns the forumlj, 
and the superb thresholds of the more powerful 

* In greater measure. t Takes possession of. % Adjoin. 

§ Acquired. 

|| Bury in the earth. % The place where courts were kept. 



,tfE BOOK OF EPODES. 123 

citizens*. Therefore either he marries the high 
poplars with the adult shoot of the vinesf, and 
amputating the useless branches with a pruning-knife 
inserts more-fruitful branches ; or in a retired valley 
looks-at the wandering flocks of lowing cattle; or 
lays-up pressed honies in pure jars, or shears the in- 
firm sheep ; or, when Autumn has lifted-up from the 
fields his head ornamented with mellow fruits, how 
he rejoices plucking-off the ingrafted pears, and the 
grape vying-with purple, with which he may present 
thee, O Priapus, and thee, O father Silvanus, guardian 
of boundaries. It-pleases him to lie, sometimes 
under an ancient ilex J, sometimes in the tough grass. 
Meanwhile the waters fall from the high banks ; the 
birds complain§ in the woods; and the fountains 
resound with flowing waters, which may invite light 
sleeps. 

"But when the wintry year of Jupiter Tonans || 
prepares showers and snows, either he drives the 
fierce boars on-this-side and that-side into withstand- 
ing toils ; or with a smooth pole stretches thin nets, 
snares for edacious^ thrushes ; and catches the fear- 
ful hare, and the stranger crane, in a gin, pleasant 
rewards. Who among these things does not forget 
the evil cares, which cares love ** has ? 

"But-if a modest woman on her part assists the 
house and sweet children, such-as the Sabine wife, 
or the wife of the active Appulian scorched by the 

* And does not wait upon the great, 
t Trains the vines to the poplars. J Od. III. 13. § Warble. 

|| Thundering Jupiter. 1T Voracious. ** Love of money. 



124 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

suns, and heaps-up the sacred hearth with old logs, 
at the approach of her wearied man ; and closing the 
joyful cattle in woven hurdles, dries the distended 
udders ; and bringing-forth this-year's wines from a 
sweet cask, prepares the unbought repasts ; not Lu- 
crine shell-fish shall delight me more, or the turbot, 
or scars* if the storm thundered-upon the Eastern 
waves should turn any to this sea; not the African 
bird f can descend into my stomach, not the Ionic 
attagen \ can descend into my stomach more-agree- 
able, than the olive gathered from the richest 
branches of the trees, or the heib of sorrel loving 
the meadows, and mallows salubrious for a sick body, 
or a lamb slain at the festive Terminalia§, or a kid 
snatched-from a wolf. 

" Among these feasts, how it-delights to see the 
fed sheep hastening home ! to see the wearied oxen 
drawing the inverted plough-share with languid 
neck ! and the slaves, the swarm of a rich house, 
placed around the shining |[ Lares !" 

When the usurer Alphius had spoken these words, 
just-now about-to-be a rustic, he brought-back^f all 
his money** at the Idesff, he seeks to place it%% at 
the Calends§§. 

* Or, char-fish. t The guinea-fowl. J A species of grouse. 

§ The feasts of Terminus, the God of boundaries. 

|| From the reflection of the fire. IT Collected. 

** For the purchase of a farm. 

ft The division (middle) of the month, from the old Etruscan verb 

iduo to divide. It At usury. 

§§ The beginning of the month, from calo to call, because it was 
called, when, as well as at the Ides, money transactions took place. 



THE BOOK OF EPODES. 125 

ODE III. 

TO MAECENAS. 

If ever anyone with impious hand shall have broke 
the aged neck of a parent, let him eat* garlic more-nox- 
ious than hemlocks. the hard bowels of mowers !f 
What is this poison which rages in my intestines ? 
Has viper's blood cooked-in these herbs deceived 
me ? or has Canidia handled bad meats ? 

When beyond all the ArgonautseJ Medea admired 
the handsome leader,§ she anointed Jason with this, 
about-to-bind unknown|| yokes upon^[ -the bulls : 
having taken-vengeance-on his concubine ** with 
gifts besmeared with this, she fled with a winged 
serpent. 

Neither so-great heat of stars has settled-upon 
thirsty Apulia : nor the gift has burned hotter uponff 
the shoulders of laborious Hercules. 



ODE IV. 

TO MENAS. 



As-great discord asj+ by-lot§§ has fallen-to wolves and 
lambs, I have with-you, Oyou galled as~to your side by 

* Edit.— For edat. f To endure garlick. t Argonauts. 

§ Jason. || Untried. IT Illigaturum. — About-to-bind-upon . 

* Creusa. ft Inarsit. — Burned-upon. tX Quanta. — As-great-as. 

§§ By nature. 

M 3 



126 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

Iberian ropes, and legs by a hard fetter. Though 
you walk-about proud with money, fortune does not 
change birth. 

Do you not see, you measuring* the Sacred way 
with a gown of twice three ells, how the most-free*}- 
indignation turns the facesj of those going here and 
there ? " This man cut with the whips of the Tri- 
umviri §, to the disgust of the Prseco ||, ploughs a 
thousand acres of a Falernian farm ; and wears the 
Appian way with his horses ; and as a great knight 
sits in the first seats, Otho being contemned^. What 
does-it-concern that so-many beaked prows of ships 
of heavy weight are-led against pirates and a servile 
band, this man, this man being tribune of soldiers.** 



ODE V. 

AGAINST CANIDIA THE WITCH. 

"But, whatever of the Godsff in heaven rules the 
lands and human race, what does that tumult mean ? 
or what do the fierce countenances of all on me 
alone mean ? 

* While you are pacing. t Most undisguised. J Upon you. 

§ Triumvirs. 

|| The clerk of the Triumvirs, who proclaimed crime and sentence, 
and reported the execution. 

IT L. Roscius Otho carried a law excluding all hut knights from 
the front seats of the theatres. 

** To what purpose are fleets equipped against pirates and slaves, 
if this slave is made a trihune of soldiers. 

tt Deorum quidquid. — That if., all the Gods. 



THE BOOK OF EIODES. 127 

" By your children, if invoked Lucina has been- 
present-at true births,* / pray you, by this empty f 
ornament of purple + / pray, by Jupiter about-to-dis- 
approve these things, why as a step-mother do you 
look-at me, or as a beast attacked with a spear ?" 

When the boy, complaining these things with 
trembling mouth, stood, his insignia§ being stolen, a 
beardless body, such-as might be-able to soften the 
impious breasts of Thracians, Canidia, entwined as-lo 
her hairs and uncombed head with short vipers, 
orders wild-fig-trees || rooted-out from sepulchres, she 
orders funereal cypresses, || and eggs|| smeared with the 
blood of a loathsome toad, and the feather || of a noc- 
turnal screech-owl, and the herbs, || which Iolcos and 
Iberia sends,^[ fertile-in poisons, and bones|| snatched 
from the mouth of a hungry bitch, to be-burned with 
Colchic flames. 

But disengaged $# Sagana, sprinkling the waters 
of Avernus through the whole house, bristles with 
rough hairs, as a marine urchin, or a Laurentian 
boar. Veia driven-awayff by no conscience++ dug- 
out the ground with hard spades, groaning-over her 
labors ; in which the boy having been dug-in might 
die-at the spectacle of food in the long day twice and 
thrice changed; while he projected with his face, as- 
much-as bodies suspended by the chin stand-out-of 

* If you ever had any children of your own. t Disregarded. 

J Border, of my gown, of purple, emblem of my rank. 
§ Toga prcetexta, gown with border, and bulla, boss, which was 
of gold, and hung from the neck. 

|| Used in magic rites. IT Produces and exports. 
** Tucked up. ft Deterred. JJ Feeling of conscience. 



128 THE BOOK OP EFODES. 

water : that his sucked-out marrow and arid liver 
might be a potion of love, when once his pupils 
fixed on the forbidden food had wasted-away. 

Both idle Naples believed, and every neighbour- 
ing town, that Ariminensian Folia* of masculine lust 
had not been-absent, who with Thessalian voicef 
pulls-down the stars enchanted-away and the moon 
from heaven. 

Here cruel Canidia gnawing her unpared thumb 
with livid tooth, What- said she ? or what said she 
not + ? "0 arbitresses not unfaithful to my affairs, 
Night, arid Diana, who rulest silence, when the 
sacred mysteries are-performed, now, now be ye pre- 
sent^ now turn ye your anger and power against 
hostile |] houses. While the formidable wild-beasts 
lie-hid in the woods, languid with sweet sleep, may 
the dogs of Subura^f bark-at the old adulterer, that all 
may laugh, besmeared with nard. such-as my hands 
shall not have prepared more-perfect. 

"What has happened? why do the dire poisons of 
barbarous Medea less avail, by which she escaped 
having taken-vengeance-on the proud mistress, the 
daughter of great Creon**, when the mantle, a gift 
imbued with poison, carried-off the new wife by con- 
flagration ? 

"But-yet neither herb, nor root latent in rough 
places has escaped me. He sleeps-upon the beds of 
all the harlots anointed with oblivion. Ah ! Ah ! he 



A witch. t Incantation. 


J Tacuit.— Said-not 


Adeste.— Be-present. II Offensive. 


f A low part o: 1 


** Creusa 





THE BOOK OF EPODES. 129 

walks-about freed by the charm of a more-s \ ilful 
witch. Not by usual potions, Varus, Oman about- 
to-weep much ! shall you return to me ; nor shall 
your mind having been called by Marsic words* 
return. 

"/ will prepare a greater cup, I will infuse a 
greater cup for you disdaining. And sooner the 
heaven shall settle lower than the sea, the earth 
being extended above, than you may not so burn 
with my love, as bitumenf with dark fires." 

Upon these words the boy did not now, as before, 
try to soften the impious women by soothing words ; 
but, doubtful whence he could break silence, uttered 
Thyestean prayers :+ " Poisons may avail to convert^ 
great right and wrong, they do not avail to convert§ 
the human lot. |[ / will pursue you with curses : dire 
detestation is-expiated by no victim. Moreover, 
when commanded to perish / shall have expired, as 
a nocturnal Fury / will meet you, and as a shade attack 
your faces with curved nails, which is a power of 
the Gods the Manes, and sitting-near your unquiet 
breasts, take-away your sleeps with fear. You, ob- 
scene old-women, the crowd from-village-to-village 
on-this-side and that-side attacking with stones, will 
crush. Afterwards the wolves, and Esquiline birds,^[ 



• Incantations. t Pitch. 

X Prayers like those of Thyestes — imprecations. § Confound. 

|| The lot which awaits the crimes of men. Od. I. 2S. 
1T Birds of prey frequenting the Esquilise, a burial-place, for slaves 
and malefactors, afterwards made an agreeable residence. 



130 THE BOOK OP EPODES. 

shall tear- asunder your unburied limbs . neither shall 
this spectacle escape my parents, alas ! surviving 



ODE VI. 

AGAINST CASSIUS SEVERUS. 

Why do you vex undeserving-strangers*, O dog, 
idle against wolves ? Why do you notf, if you are- 
able, turn hither your empty threats, and attack me 
about-to-bite- again ? For, such-as either a Molossian, 
or tawny Laconian dog, a power friendly to shepherds, 
I will drive with erected ear through the deep 
snows, whatever wild-beast shall precede}. You, 
when you have filled the grove with your voice to- 
be-feared, smell-at thrown-forth food§. 

Beware you, beware you ! for most-rough against 
bad men I raise my prepared horns ; such-as the son- 
in-law|| spurned by unfaithful Lycambes, or the 
fierce enemy ^[ of Bupalus. Should /, if anyone 
shall have attacked me with black tooth, weep as an 
unavenged boy ? 

ODE VII. 

TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE. 

Whither, whither, do ye wicked rush? or why are 

* Strangers undeserving of harm. t Quin.— Why-not. 

X Quaicunque prcecedet fera. — For quamcunque, quae prcecedet, 
feram, every wild-beast, which shall precede. 
§ Accept a bribe offered for silence. || Archilochus. '% Hipponax. 



THE BOOK OP EPODES. 131 

the sheathed swods adapted* to righthands ? Has 
too-little Latin blood been spilt upon the plains and 
Ocean ? not that the Roman might burn the proud 
citadels of envious Carthage ; or that the untouched! 
Briton might descend]; chained§ by the Sacred way : 
but that, according-to the vows^T of the Parthians, 
this city might perish by its-own righthand.** 
Neither have wolves had this custom, nor lions, never 
fierce, except toward a different kind.jf Does blind 
fury, or a stronger power hurry you ? or crime ? give ye 
response. They are-silent, and white pallor infects 
their faces, and their stricken minds are-stupified. 

So it-is : bitter fates pursue the Romans, and the 
crime of a brother's death ; since the blood of the 
undeserving \\ Remus flowed upon the earth, cursed 
to descendants§§. 



ODE VIII. 

TO MAECENAS. 

When shall /, joyful, Caesar being victor, with-you 
under a high dome,||J] so may-it-be agreeable to Jupiter, 
O blest Maecenas, drink Caecuban wine reserved for 
festive repasts, the lyre sounding a song mixed 
with pipes, that sounding a Dorian song, these 

* Aptantur. — Are- adapted. + Unconquered. J To prison- 

§ As a captive. IT Prayers. ** Romans by the bands of Romans, 
tt As if the Romans and the rest of mankind were not of the 
same species. %% Undeserving of harm. 

§§ To be expiated by posterity. |||| Maecenas's palace. 



132 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

sounding a Barbarian* song ? As lately, when the 
Neptunian leaderf driven/rom the sea fled, his ships 
being burnt!, having threatened to The City the 
chains, which he had withdrawn as a friend from per- 
fidious slaves§. The Roman, alas ! ye posterity will 
deny, enslaved to a woman |j, bears the stake and 
arms as a soldier, and is-able to serve wrinkled 
eunuchs ! and among the military standards the sun 
beholds the disgraceful canopy ! ^1 At this murmur- 
ing the Galli turned twice a thousand horses, singing 
Caesar** ; and the prows of the hostile ships movedft 
on-the-leftJ! lie-hid in the port§§. 

Oh Triumph !|||| you delay golden chariots^, and un- 
touched*! oxen; Oh Triumph !|||| not from the Jugur- 
thine war have you brought-back an equal leader : 
not-even Africanus, for whom Virtue built a sepul- 
chre upon Carthage*^. 

The enemy conquered by land and sea changed 
his Punic*§ cloak for a mournful cloak*||. Either he 

* Phrygian, 
t Sextus Pompeius, who styled himself the son of Neptune, 
t By Caesar. 
§ He attempted to subject Rome by bands of fugitive slaves, 
whom he received among his troops. || Cleopatra. 

% A musquito-curtain used by the Egyptians, but degrading to 
the Romans. ** Deserted to Ca=s>ar. 

ft Backwards, to avoid the appearance of revolt. 
XX Towards Egypt. §§ Retire into harbour, and so desert. 

UII Triumph addressed as a Divinity. 1T1T Triumphal cars. 

*t Never broken to the yoke, and for triumphal sacrifices. 
*X Virtue is represented as erecting a tomb to commemorate his 
glory, on the ruins of Carthage, which he conquered. *§ Purple. 
* || Punico lugubre mutavit sagum — For mutuvit Punicum tag-urn 
Iv.'jubrl sago. 



THE BOOK OP EPODES. 133 

seeks Crete noble with a hundred cities, about-to-go 
with winds not his-own*, or the Syrtes exercised 
by Notusf, or is-borne by an uncertain sea. 

Bring you hither, boy, more-capacious cups, and 
Chian wines, or Lesbian wines; or, measure to us 
Ciccuban wine, which may coerce} the flowing 
nausea. It-delights to loose§ the care and fear|| of the 
affairs of Caesar with sweet Lyaeus^]". 



ODE IX. 

AGAINST MjEVIUS A POET. 

The ship, bearing smelling Msevius, goes-out hav- 
ing been loosed with evil bird**. Austerff, remem- 
ber you, that you should beat each side with horrid 
waves. May black EurusJJ, the sea being inverted§§, 
disperse the cables, and broken oars ; may Aquilo|||| 
arise, as-great-as he breaks the trembling ilexes*[[^[ on 
the high mountains ; nor let a friendly star appear in 
the dark night, in which sad Orion sets : nor may he 
be-borne in a more-quiet sea, than the Grecian band 
of victors, when Pallas turned her anger from burnt 
Ilium*f against the impious ship of Ajax. 

how-great sweat is-at-hand to your sailors, and 
yellowish pallor is-at-hand to you, and that wailing 

* Unfavourable. t Od 1. 8. 

I Check or control. § Dissipate. || Anxiety. f Od. III. 21. 

** Od. III. 3. ft Od. II. 14. i$ Od. I. 25. 
§§ Turned upside down. |||| Od. I. 3. %^ Od. III. 13. *t Od. I. 10; 

N 



134 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

not manly, and prayers to averted Jupiter ; when the 
Ionian bay rebellowing with wet Notus* shall have 
broken the keel ! But if a fat prey extended on the 
curved shore you snail have delighted diversf; a 
libidinous he-goat shall be-immolated, and an ewe- 
lamb to the Tempests. 



ODEX. 

TO PETTIUS. 

O Pettius, nothing does-it-delight me, as before, to 
write versicles, having been smitten with violent 
Love. 

This is the third December, which stakes the 
honorj from§ the woods, from the time at which / 
desisted to rage on-account-of Inachia. Ah ! for it- 
shames me of so-great evil, how-great a talk I have 
been through the city ! and it-repents me of the en- 
tertainments, in which both languor and silence 
shewed me loving||, and the breath fetched from the 
bottom of my side. " Is-it-the-case that the candid 
genius of a poor man nothing avails against lucre'il ?" 
I did complain, lamenting to you : as-soon-as the im- 
modest God** with the more-fervid wine had moved- 
ioYt\xfro?n their place the secrets of me warm. " But 

* Od. I. 3. t A s< a-fowl, bird of prer, that dives. J Foliage. 

§ Decutit— Shakes-iron: . [| That I was in love. 

^ That the virtue of a poor man v eighs nothing againt money. 

** Bacchus. 



THE BOOK OF EPODES. 135 

if free choler* boils-in my intestines, so-that it dis- 
tributes to the winds these disagreeable fomentations-}-, 
nothing relieving a bad wound; shame J having been 
removed§ will cease to vie-with unequals." 

When / severe had praised these things before 
you, having been commanded to go-away home, / 
was borne with uncertain foot to posts, alas ! not 
friendly to me, and, alas ! hard thresholds, with which 
/ bruised my loins and side. 



ODE XL 



TO HIS FEIESDS. 

A horrid tempest has contracted the sky||, and the 
showers and snows bring-down Jupiter^f ; now the 
sea, now the woods sound with Thracian Aquilo*-*: let 
us take, friends, occasion from the day ; and while 
our knees are-vigorous, and it-becomes, let agef f with 
obscuredJ! brow be~relaxed. 

Do you move§§ the wines pressed t my Torquatus 
being Consul. |||| Omit you to speak-of other things : 
the God perhaps will reduce these thing s%^ to their 
state with a benign change. 

* Indignation. t Complaints. J For my repulse. 

§ By such means. || Drawn together the clouds in the sky. 

IT The atmosphere. ** Od. I. 3. tt The gravity of age. 

It Contracted. §§ Produce. 

HII In the consulship of my friend Torquatus. 

ITU An allusion to some evils 



136 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

Now it-delights both to be-besprinkled with Achse- 
menian* nard, and with the Cyllenean lyref to 
relieve our breasts from dire solicitudes : as the noble 
CentaurusJ sang to his grand pupil§ : " uncon- 
quered mortal, boy born-of the Goddess Thetis, you 
the land of Assaracus|| awaits, which the frigid 
streams of the little Scamander cleave, and swift 
Simois ; whence the Parcae^I have broken a return 
for you by a certain thread ; nor shall your cerulean** 
mother carry-back you home. There lighten you 
every ill with wine and song, sweet soothers of de- 
formed sadness." 



ODE XII. 

TO MAECENAS. 

O candid Maecenas, you kill me by oft asking, why a 
soft inertness has diffused so-great oblivion on my 
deepest senses, as if with dry throat I should have 
drawnff cups bringing Lethean slumbers % \ : a God, 
for a God forbids that-I should bring to the umbilicus§§ 
the begun iambics|]||, the poem formerly promised. 

* Od. III. 1. 
T The lyre invented by Mercury, born in Cyllene, a mountain of 
Arcadia. J The Centaur Chiron. § Aehilles. 

|| A King of Troy. H Od. II. 6. ** Marine. tt Drunk. 

XX Cups filled with the waters of Lethe causing forgetfulness or sleep. 
§§ A roller round which the volume was rolled. To bring the 
poem to the umbilicus, therefore, implies " to bring to a conclusion." 
\\\ Od. I. 16. 



THE BOOK OF EPODES. 137 

Not otherwise they say that Teian A nacreon burned 
with Samian Bathyllus, whovery-oft with the hollow- 
lyre""' bewailed his love, not according-to an elaborate 
foot.f You yourself miserable are-burned ; but if 
not a fairer fire kindled besieged IlionJ, rejoice you 
in your lot : me a freed-woman, and-not content with 
one, Phryne, consumes. 



ODE XIII. 

TO NEjERA. 

rr-was night, and the Moon was shining in a serene 
sky among the lesser stars, when you, about-to- 
injure§ the divinity of the great Gods, swore to ray 
words, adhering || with pliant arms, more-closely 
than the lofty ilex^[ is-bound by the ivy : while the 
wolf should be hostile to cattle, and Orion hostile to 
sailors should disturb the wintry sea, and the breeze 
should agitate the unshorn hairs of Apollo, that this 
love should be mutual. 

O Neaera, about-to-grieve much on-ac count -of my 
virtue** ! for, if there is anything of a man in Flaccus, 
the constancy of me once offended will not yield to 
beauty, if certain grief shall have entered. 

But you, whoever art more-happy, and now goest- 
on proud in my misfortune, though you may be rich 

* Teshidine. — Od I. 32. 

t Not strictly according to the laws of metre. 

X Od. 1. 10* If your mistress be as fair as Helen. § Violate. 

|| Embracing. 11 Od. III. 13. ** Resolution. 

N 3 



138 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

in cattle and much land, and Pactoltis* may flow for 
you, nor the secrets of Pythagoras born-againf may 
escape you, and in beauty you may surpass !Xireus, 
alas ! you shall mourn lov r es translated J elsewhere: 
but I in- turn shall have laughed. 



ODE XIV. 

TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE. 

Another age nowis-worn by civil wars, and Rome 
herself falls by her-own powers : which neither the 
bordering Mars i have been-able to destroy, or the 
Etruscan band of menacing Porsena, nor the emulous 
virtue of Capua, nor the sharp Spartacus, and the 
Allobrogian unfaithful in new affam§, nor fierce 
Germania with cerulean',! youth has tamed, and 
Hannibal abominated by parents : ice an impious age 
of devoted blood shall destroy her \ and the soil again 
shall be-occupied by wild-beasts. A barbarian 
victor, alas ! shall tread-upon her ashes, and the horse- 
man shall beat the city with sounding hoof; and the 
bones of Quirinus^I , which are-free-from winds and 
suns, an impiety to see ! he insolent will dissipate**. 
Perhaps, commonly, or the better part, ye seek 
what may be-expedient to be-free-fromff evil 
labors. 

* Famous for grains of gold said to have in its sands, 

t Od. I 2S. J Transferred. § Iunoval 

| An allusion to the color of the eyes of the Gcru 

.ryerse. * + To rescue yon fi 



TIIE BOOK OF EPOEES. 139 

There can be no sentence* better than this sentence : 
as the state of the Phocaeans having sworn 'fled fields 
and properf Lares}, and relinquished the fanes to-be- 
inhabited by boars and rapacious wolves : to go, 
wherever our feet shall carry us, wherever through 
the waves Notus§ shall call, or wanton Africus.j| 

So does-it-please ? or has anyone anything better 
to advise ? Why do we delay to occupy a ship with 
favourable bird^JI ? But let us swear to these words : 
that as-soon-as stones raised from the bottom-of the 
waters shall have swam-back,** it may notf+ bejj an 
impiety to return ; nor let-it-grieve us to set sails 
turned-about home, when the Padus§§ shall have 
laved the Matinian summits, or the lofty Apenninus||j| 
shall have run-forth into the sea, and a miraculous 
love shall have joined monsters with anew lust, so- 
that it-may-delight tigers to cower-down to stags, 
and the dove may be-adulterated with the kite ; nor 
the credulous herds may fear the tawny lions ; and 
the smooth he-goat may love the salt waters. 

When all the city has sworn these words, and 
whatever words shall be-able to cut-off sweet returns, 
let us go, or the part better than the indocile herd ; 
let the soft and hopeless part pressf^I ill-omened 
beds*f. Do ye, who have virtue, put-away woman- 
ish sorrow, and fly beyond the Etruscan shores. 

The Ocean wandering-about awaits us ! let us seek 

* Advice. + Their own. J Od. Ill 23. § Od« I. 3. 

HOd.Il. ITOd. III. 3. ** Swam upwards, tt Ne.— That-not. 
JJ Sit.— It-may-be, §§ Po. |||| Apennines. 1T1T Lie-upon 

*t Remain behind and perish. 



140 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

the fields, the blest fields, and rich islands*! where 
the land unploughed yearly renders Corn, and the 
unpruned vineyard flourishes continually ; and the 
bough of the never deceiving! olive germinates, and 
the dark fig adorns its-own tree|; honies flow from 
the hollow ilex§, the light water leaps-down from 
the high mountains with sounding foot. There the 
she-goats unbidden come to the milk-pails, and the 
friendly flock brings-back stretched udders : nor the 
evening bear growls-around the sheep-fold; nor the 
high ground swells-up with vipers||. No contagions 
hurt the cattle, the hot violence of no star scorches 
the flock. And more things we happy shall ad- 
mire ; that neither watery Eurus^f wastes the fields 
with large showers, nor the fertile seeds are -burned 
by the dry clods ; the king of the Ccelites** temper- 
ing each thing. 

Not hither has the pineff come with Argive 
rower,!! nor the immodest Colchian- woman §§ intro- 
duced her foot ; not hither have the Sidonian sailors 
turned their hornsjj|J, nor the laborious cohort of 
Ulysses. Jupiter separated those shores for a pious 
nation, when he debased the golden time^ffi with 
brass ; afterwards he hardened the brazen ages with 
iron, to the pious men of which ages, I being prophet, 
a prosperous flight is-given. 

* Od. IV. 8. \ Failing. 

J Its tree requiring no cultivation — no grafts from trees of superior 
quality. § Od 111.13. || Nor is the soil pregnant with 
IT Od. I. 25. ** Inhabitants of Heaven. ttShip of pine %% Jason. 
i§ Medea. |||| The extremities of tbc sail yards. r 



THE BOOK OF EPODES. 141 

ODE XV. 

TO CANIDIA. 

Horace. — Now now / give hands* to efficacious 
science, and suppliant pray by the kingdoms of 
Proserpine, and by the powers not to-be-moved of 
Diana, and by the books of charms availing to call- 
down the unfixed stars from heaven, Canidia, spare 
you at-length sacred words, and quickly loose back- 
ward, loose you your wheelf. 

Telephus moved the grandson^ of Nereus, against 
whom he proud had set troops of Mysians, and against 
whom he had turned his acute weapons. The Ilian 
mothers anointed the homicide Hector devoted to 
wild birds and dogs, after, the walls being relin- 
quished, the king§ fell-down|| alas I at the feet of 
persevering Achilles. The laborious rowers of 
Ulysses put-off their limbs bristly with, hard skins, 
Circe willing; then mind^f and sound** glided- 
back, and the known honorff to their countenances. 

/ have suffered enough and more of punishments 
for you, O you loved much by sailors and factors. 
Youth has fled, and the modest color has left-be hind 
my bones clothed with a lurid skin ! my hair is 
white by your odors|J, no ease reclines me from 

* Do manus — A metaphor from the manner of the vanquished 
combatant, who gave his hands to the conqueror, to receive his 
chains, and as a token of submission — I submit. 

t A magic wheel, by turning which certain sorceries were per- 
formed. 

% Achilles. § Priam. || In supplication. IT Reason . 

** Voice. ft Comeliness. It Magic herbs. 



142 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

labor : night urges day, and day urges night, nor is- 
it-permitted to relieve by breathing my stretched in- 
testines. Therefore, i" am conquered, that / mise- 
rable should credit the thing denied, that Sabellian 
charms disturb the breast, and that the head leaps- 
asunder by a Marsian dirge*. 

What more do you wish ? sea, and land ! I burn, 
as-much-as neither Hercules besmeared with the 
black gore of Nessus, nor the fervid flame raging in 
the Sicanian iEtna. 

You, a workshop, glow with Colchian poisons, 
till / an arid cinder shall be -borne by the injurious 
winds. What end, or what stipendf awaits me ? 
Speak-out you: with fidelity / will pay the com- 
manded punishments ; prepared to expiate, whether 
you shall have desired a hundred bullocks, or shall 
wish to be -sounded \ by the mendacious§ lyre ; "you 
modest, you good, shall perambulate the stars a 
golden star||." Castor offended by the condition of in- 
famous Helen, and the brother % of great Castor, 
overcome by prayer, restored to the poet** his eyes 
taken-away. And do you, for you are-able, loose me 
from madness, O neither obsolete by paternal sordid- 
nesses, nor an old-woman prudent to dissipate ft ninth- 
day H ashes among the sepulchres of -poor persons\\! 
You have a hospitable breast, and pure hands ||! 

* Od. II. 1. + Punishment. J Be celebrated. § False. 

|| Irony. IT Pollux. ** Stesichorus, who had satirized Helen, 
tt Disperse. 
Jt As if the ashes must have been buried nine days to be service- 
able for magic rites. 



THE BOOK OF EPODES. 143 

Canidia. — Why do you pour prayers to locked 
ears ? Not wintry Neptune with the high sea strikes 
rocks deafer to sailors. 

That you unpunished may have ridiculed the 
Cotyttia* divulged, the sacred-rite off free Cupid ? 
And as- if Pontiff of the Esquiline witchcraft | that 
with-impunity you may have filled the city with my 
name ? 

What did-it-profit me to have enriched Pelignian 
old-women§, or mixed a speedier poison? But fates 
slower than your wishes await you: a disagreeable 
life is to-be-led by you miserable, for this thing, 
that continually you may suffice for new pains. The 
unfaithful father of Peiops desires quiet[|, Tantalus 
always wanting benign food : Prometheus bound to 
a bird desires quiet\\ ; Sisyphus desires to place the 
stone upon the summit-of the mountain : but the 
laws of Jupiter forbid. You will wish now to leap- 
down from high towers, now to open your breast 
with the Noric sword; and in- vain you will tie 
bands to your throaty, sorrowful with fastidious sick- 
ness. 

Then I as a horseman shall be-borne by your 
shoulders unfriendly, and the earth shall yield to 
my insolence**. 



* Rites of Cot3'tto, or, Venus. t Sacred to. 

X On the Esquilia; (Od. 5.) the witches performed their rites. 
§ In order to learn their arts. || Remission of punishment. 

TT To hang yourself. ** Unusual power, 



144 THE BOOK OF EPODES. 

Should /, who can move waxen images*, as you 
yourself curious f have known, and pull-down the 
Moon from the sky by my words, who can excite % 
burnt dead men, and temper a cup of desire §, be- 
wail the issue of an art, doing^ nothing against you ? 

* Of the subjects of rites. t Prying. J Raise. 

§ Mix a potion of love. IT Epod. 5. Effecting. 



THE 



SECULAR ODE.* 



TO APOLLO AND DIANA. 

Chorus of the People. 

Phoebus, and Diana ruling-over the woods, lucid 
ornament of heaven, to-be-adored always and adored, 
give ye the things which we pray at the sacred time ; 
at which the Sibylline verses have admonished, 
that select virgins, and chaste youths, should sing 
an ode to the Gods, whom the seven hillsf have 
pleased. 

Youths. 
genial Sun, who with shining chariot bringest- 
forth and concealest the day, and arisest another and 
the same, may you be- able to visit nothing greater 
than the city Rome. 

Virgins. 

IlithyiaJ lenient rightly to open mature births, 
mayest thou protect mothers : whether thou approvest 

* An ode sung at the Secular Games. t Rome. % Diana. 

O 



146 THE SECULAR OD'-:. 

to be-called Lucina, or Genitalis. Goddess, mayest 
thou produce offspring, and prosper the decrees of 
the Fathers* concerning women to-be- married, and 
the matrimonial lawf fertile-in a new race :| 

Youths and Virgins. 

That the certain circle through ten-times eleven 
years may bring-back the songs and games, thrice in 
the clear day, and as-oft frequented in the agreeable 
night§. And do ye, true to have sung, Parcae j|, 
what once has been declared^", and the stable boun- 
dary** of things preservesff, join good fates to those 
already perfected. Let the Earth fertile-in fruits 
and cattle present Ceres with a sheafy crown: and 
let the salubrious waters \ % and breezes of Jupiter 
nourish the fruits. 

Youths. 

Mild and placid with concealed weapon hear thou 
the suppliant youths, O Apollo : 

Virgins. 

Two-horned queen of stars hear thou, Moon, the 
damsels : 

* Od. III. 5. t The Julian law. 

X Because it encouraged marriage. 
§ The Secular Games were at the end of every hundred and ten 
years, and lasted three days and three nights. 

1) Od. II. 6. IT Determined. ** Fixed event, 
tt Confirms. XX Rains. 



THE SECULAR ODU. 147 



Youths and Virgins. 



If Rome is your work, and the Ilian troops have 

held* the Etruscan shore, the part commanded to 

change Laresf and city, by a safe course ; for whom 

chaste iEneas surviving his country secured a free 

passage without harm through burning Troy, about- 

to-give to them more things than those relinquished \: 

O Gods, give ye virtuous morals to the decile youth, 

O Gods, give ye quiet to placid old-age, give ye to 

the Romulean nation both wealth, and offspring, and 

every honor. And may he who venerates you with 

white oxen§, the illustrious blood of Anchises and 

Venus ||, command, better than the warring enemy, but 

lenient to the ly ing^I enemy. Now by sea and land the 

Mede fears our powerful bands, and the Alban** 

axesff : now the Scythae seek responses ||, lately 

proud, and the Indians. Now Faith, and Peace, and 

Honor, and former Modesty, and neglected Virtue 

dares to return, and Plenty appears blest with a full 

horn. 

Youths. 

May augur Phoebus, both adorned with glittering 
bow, and acceptable to the nine Muses, who, with 
salutary art, relieves the wearied limbs of the body, 

* Arrived, to take possession of. t Od. III. 23. 

X Rome for Troy. § As directed by the Sibylline verses. 

|| Augustus. H Prostrate. 

** Albanas. — For Romanas, because Rome was founded by a 

colony from Alba, or the seat of government waa removed from 

Alba to Rome. ff Powers. Od. III. 2. %% Commands. 



148 THE SECULAR ODE. 

if he propitious views the Palatine heights*, prorogue^ 
both the Roman state, and happy Latium}, to 
another lustrum§, and an always better age. 

Virgins. 

And may Diana who possesses || Aventinus and 
Algidus, regard the prayers of the Fifteen men^[, 
and apply friendly ears to the vows** of the youths. 

Youths and Virgins. 
I the chorus taught to sing the praises both of 
Phoebus and Diana carry-back home a good and cer- 
tain hope, that Jupiter feels ff these things, and all 
the Gods. 

* The temple of Apollo, on the Palatine Hill, in which the Car- 
men Sceculure was sung. 

t Prolong. % Italy. 

$ Od. II. 4. || Here the same with cevum following. % Occupies. 

** The Quindecemviri, who presided over the Secular Games. 

tt Prayers. XX Confirms. 



THE FIRST BOOK 



THE SATIRES. 



SATIRE I. 



TO MAECENAS. 



How happens-it, Maecenas, that nobody lives con- 
tent with that lot, which lot either reason shall have 
given to him, or chance set-before him, but everyone 
praises those following different things ? " O fortu- 
nate merchants !" the soldier heavy with years says, 
and now broken as-to his limbs by much labor. On, 
the-contrary the merchant, the Austri * tossing his 
ship, says, " Warfare is better. For why ? It-is* 
engagedf '• * n a moment of time either a quick 
death comes, or a joyful victory." The lawyer 
skilled-in right and laws praises the agriculturist, 
when at the crowing of the cock the consultor^: 
knocks-at his doors. He, who, sureties being given, § 

* Oil. IT. 14. t They engage. 

J Client. § Having given bail for his appearance. 

o3 



150 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

has been dragged-from the country into the city, 
exclaims that-t hose alone are happy living in the city. 

The other examples of this kind, they are so many 
avail to weary-out loquacious Fabius. That / may 
not delay you, hear you whither / will brirjg-down 
the matter. If anyone of the Gods should say, " Lo 
I now will do what ye wish : you, who just-now were a 
soldier, shall be a merchant : you, now a lawyer, 
shall be a rustic : depart ye on-this-side, do ye depart 
on-that-side your parts being changed : hah, why do 
ye stand ?" They would be-unwilling. But-yet it- 
is-allowed them to be blest. What cause is there, 
why Jupiter deservedly enraged should not * swell 
both his cheeks at f them, and say that-he would not 
be hereafter so easy, as-that he would afford an ear 
to their vows J? 

Furthermore, that / may not § thus, as those who 
treat of jocular things, laughing run-through, 
though what forbids that-one laughing should tell 
the truth ? as sometimes kind teachers give cakes to 
boys, that they may be- willing to learn the first ele- 
ments ; but however sport being removed let us seek 
serious tlmigs. 

He, who turns the heavy earth with the hard 
plough, this perfidious dealer ||, the soldier, and the 
sailors, w r ho daring run through every sea, say that- 
they bear labor with this intention, that as old-men 
they may retire into safe ease, when provisions may 
have been heaped-together for themselves j like-as 

* Quiii.— Why-not. t Inflet.— Swell-at. J Prayers. 
§ Xe — That-not. || In the law. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 151 

the very- small ant (for it is for an example) of great 
labor draws with its mouth, whatever it can, and 
adds to the heap, which it builds, not ignorant and 
not incautious of the future : who, as-soon-as Aqua- 
rius* saddensf the inverted year*, does not creep- 
forth anywhere, and wise uses those things before 
acquired; whereas you neither the fervid heat can 
move-aside from lucre, nor winter, nor fire, nor sea, 
nor sword; nothing can withstand you, so-that 
another may not be richer than you. 

What profits-it that you timid deposit an immense 
weight of silver and gold in the earth stealthily dug- 
out? 

Miser. — Because, if you should diminish it, it 
may be -reduced to a vile as.§ 

Horatius. — But, if that does not happen, what 
beauty has a constructed heap ? Though your thresh- 
ing-floor may have threshed a hundred thousand 
measures of corn, your belly will not on-account-of 
this thing contain more than my belly ; as if haply 
you should carry a basket of bread, among slaves, 
with loaded shoulder ; you would receive nothing more, 
than he who shall have carried nothing. Or say you, 
what it-may-matter to one living within the bounds 
of nature, whether he ploughs a hundred acres or 
a thousand acres ? 

* A sign in the zodiac. f With rain. 

X The sun enters Aquarius in January; and, therefore, Horace 
calls the year inversion, turned round. 

§ A coin, three farthings of our money. 



152 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

Miser. — But it-is a sweet thing to take from a great 
heap. 

Horatius. — While you leave to us to take as-much 
from a small heap, why should you praise your 
granaries more than our corn-bins ? as if you should 
have need of not more than an urn of liquid, or a 
cup, and should say, "I should-rather take so-much 
from a great river, than from this little-fountain." 
Therefore it-happens, that if an abundance more-full 
than what-is-just delights any, the violent Aufidus 
bears them torn-away together with the bank? but 
he who desires so-little, as is necessary, he neither 
draws water disturbed with mud, nor loses his life in 
the waves. 

But a good* part of men, deceived by false desire, 
says, nothing is sufficient; because you are of so-much 
worth, as you may have f. What can you do for 
him* ? You should command that-he should be 
miserable, since he willingly does that ; as a certain 
sordid and rich man is-mentioned at Athens, thus ac- 
customed to contemn the words of the people : " The 
people hisses me, but I-myself applaud myself at- 
home, as-soon as / contemplate my monies in my 
chest." Tantalus thirsting catches-at the streams 
fleeing from his lips : why do you laugh ? the name 
being changed, the fable is-narrated of yourself: 
you gaping sleep-upon sacks heaped- together on -all- 



Large, t You are esteemed according to what you possess 

j One of such an opinion. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 153 

sides, and as-if sacred are-constrained to spare them, 
or delight in them as if painted tablets. 

Do you not-know, to-what-puipose money may 
avail, what use it may afford ? Bread may be-bought, 
herb may be bought, a sextarius* of wine may be 
bought: add you other things, which being denied human 
nature would grieve for itself. Does this delight, that- 
you should watch breathless with dread, and nights 
and days fear wicked thieves, and conflagrations, and 
slaves, lest fleeing they should plunder you ? I should 
have wished always to be most-pcor-in these goods. 

Miser. — But if your body tried with cold has felt- 
pain, or other accident has confined you to bed, have 
you one who may sit-by you, who may prepare fomenta- 
tions, who may ask a physician, that he would suscitate 
and restore you to your children and dear relations ? 

Horatius. — Your wife does not wish you soundf, 
your son does not wish you soundf, all your 
neighbours, acquaintances, boys and girls, hate 
you. Do you wonder, since you postpone all things 
to silverj, if nobody affords the love, which you do 
not merit? So would you wish to retain the 
relations, whom with no labor nature gives you, and 
preserve them as friends ? You unhappy would lose 
your labor, as if any one should teach an ass obeying 
the reins to run in the plain 1 

Finally, let there be an end of seeking § ; and by- 
how-much more you may have, you should dread 

* A measure of about a quart. f Recovered. 

X Place all things after money. § Riche6. 



154 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

poverty less, and begin to end labcr, that being gotten, 
which you desired; that you may not* do that, which 
Ummidius did, who, (the fable is not long) ivas so rich, 
that he measured his monies, who was so sordid, that 
he not ever clothed himself better than a slave, even 
to the last time, who dreaded, lest want of food should 
oppress him. But him a freedwoman the bravest one 
of the TyndaridaBf divided with an axe in-the-middle. 

Miser. — What therefore do you persuade me, that 
/ should live as MjeniusJ, or so, as Nomentanus §? 

Horatius. — Are you going-on to compare tilings 
repugnant with-themselves with adverse fronts|| ? I 
do not, when I foi bid that-you should become ava- 
ricious, bid that-you should become a spendthrift and 
a rake. There is something between Tanais and the 
father-in-law of ViselHus 8 ^. There is a measure in 
things, there are finally certain boundaries, beyond 
and on- this-side** which right cannot consist. 

1" return thither, whence / departed. Can nobody, 
as the avaricious man, approve himself, but rather 
praise those following different things ? and pine, 
because another's she-goat carries a more-distended 
udder ? nor compare himself to the greater crowd of 
poorer men ; but labour to surpass this man and that 
manl Thus a more- opulent man always with- 
standsff him hastening JJ . as, when the hoofs§ hur- 

* Ne.— That not- 

t As if one of Tyndarida?, daughters of Tyndarus, who murdered 

their hushands with an axe. I A miser. § A spendthrift. 

|| Opposite extremes. \ Two persons of opposite qualities. 

** Short of, ft Is an obstacle to. JJ To be rich. §§ Horse. 



THE FIltST BOOK OF SATIRES. 155 

ries the chariots sent from the goals, the charioteer 
presses-upon the horses overcoming his-own horses, 
despising him passed-by coming among the last. 

Thence it-happens, that rarely, we can find a man, 
who can say that-he has lived happy, and content 
with the expired time of his life retire, as a sated 
guest. 

Now there is enough : lest you should suppose that- 
I have plundered the desks* of the blear-eyed Cris- 
pinust, / will not add a word more. 



SATIRE JT. 

AGAINST EXTRAVAGANCIES. 

The colleges^ of female-flute-players, medicine- 
sellers, mendicants, female-mimics, rakes, all this 
race, is mournful and solicitous § by the death of the 
singer Tigellius : because he was benign. On-the- 
contrary this man, dreading, lest he should be-said to 
be prodigal, would be-unwilling to give to a he jpless 
friend, that with which he may be-able to expel cold 
and hard famine. If you should ask him, why he 
wicked strips the beautiful estate of his grandfather 
and parent by ungrateful gluttony, buying-up all pro- 

* Pirated the papers, t A philosopher and poet, 

% Humorously for bands. § Disconsolate. 



156 THE FIRST BOOK OP SATIHLS. 

visions with hired monies : he responds, because he 
would be-unwil]ing to be held sordid and of a little 
mind. "He is-praised by these, he is-blamed by 
those." 

Fufidius, rich in lands, rich in monies placed at 
interest, fears the fame of a spendthrift and rake, he 
cuts-offfive interests* from the capital, and by -how- 
much more-abandoned anyone is, by-so-much more- 
sharply he urges. He pursuest the names, the 
manly vestment! being lately assumed, of tiros under 
hard fathers. 

" greatest Jupiter," who does not exclaim, as- 
soon as he has heard ? 

"But he makes expense upon himself according-to 
his gain." 

You could scarcely credit, how he is not friendly 
to himself ; so that that father, whom the fable of 
Terentius§ introduces to have lived miserable his 
son|| being put-to-flight, tormented not himself worse 
than he. 

If anyone now should inquire, " Whither does this 
thing pertain^?" Thither : while fools avoid vices, they 
run into the contrary vices. Rufillus smells-of pas- 
tiles, Gorgonius smells-of a he-goat. 



* Five per cent. 

t Hunts out. 

\ The toga virilis, or man's gown. Od. I. 36. 

§ The Heautonthnorumenos of Terence. 

|| Menedemus. 

f Tend. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 157 

SATIRE III. 

AGAINST DETRACTION. 

All singers have this vice, among friends that they 
never can induce their mind to sing having been 
asked, but unbidden they never can desist. That 
Tigellius of Sardinia did have this vice. Caesar, who 
could compel, if he desired by the friendship of his 
father, and his-own friendship, could not anything 
profit*; ifit-had-pleased, from the egg even to the 
applesf he could recite, "Io BaccheJ !" sometimes 
with the highest voice, sometimes with this voice, 
which resounds lowest to the four chords. § That 
man had nothing equal ||. Often he ran as one who 
is flying an enemy, very-often as one who carried the 
sacred-things of Juno^[: often he did have two-hundred 
slaves, often he did have ten slaves : sometimes speak- 
ing -of kings and tetrarchs**, and all great things; 
sometimes, " Let me have a table with-three-feet, 
and a shell of pure salt, and a gown, which, though 

* Succeed with him. 

t Eggs were served at the beginning, apples at the conclusion of 
a feast— from the beginning to the end of the entertainment. 

I Thebegim ing of a song, for the whole. 

§ Sometimes in a pitch which answers to the highest treble, some- 
times in one which answers to the lowest base of the tetrachord, an 
instrument of four strings. || Uniform. 

IT In processions to the honor of the Gods, virgins carried baskets 
with sacred things, and walked with a very slow solemn pace. 

** Properly governors of the fourth of a country. 

P 



158 THE FIKST BOOK OP SATIRES. 

coarse, may keep-off the cold." If yew had given 
ten-times a hundred sestertia* to this sparing man, 
content with a few things: in five days nothing 
was in his coffers. At nights he watched to the very 
morning, the whole day he snored. Nothing was 
ever so unequal tof itself. 

Now some-one may say to me, "What are you? 
Have you no vices ?" Yes some vices; not perhaps 
less vices. 

While Maenius carped-at absent Novius, " Ho you," 
some-one says, "are you ignorant-of+ yourself, or do 
you suppose that -you unknown give words to us §?" 
" I-myself pardon myself," Masnius says. 

This is a foolish and impious love|], and worthy to 
be-noted. When badly % blear-eyed you look- 
through** your vices with anointed eyes, why in- 
respect-of the vices of friends do you look so acutely ff 
as either an eagle, or the Epidaurian serpent ? 

But on-the-other-hand it happens to you, that in- 
turn also they inquire into your vices. " He is a 
little too-irascible, less apt|| for the acute noses§§ of 
these men; he can be-ridiculed on-this-account, be- 
cause his gown flows-down from him too- rustically 
shorn, and his lax shoe badly sticks on his foot ; but 

* Ten hundred thousand sesterces. A sestertium amounted to 
a thousand sesterces, silver coins valuing, each, two asses and a 
half. Sat 2. 

t Inconsistent with. \ Ignoras— Are-ignorant-of. 

§ Impose upon us. || Self-love. % Very, or, perversely. 

** Look over. ft Acutum. — For acute. 

It By no means adapted. §5 Sn-jets. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 159 

he is good, so-that not any other man is a better man, 
but he is a friend of you, but a great genius lies-hid 
under this uncultivated body." 

Lastly shake* ijou yourself, whether originally 
nature, or even bad custom, may have sown any 
vices inf you ; for fern to-be-burned grows-in neg- 
lected fields. 

Thither! let us return, that the disagreeable vices 
of a mistress deceive the blind lover, or even these 
very things delight, as the polypus of Hagna delights 
Balbinus. / could wish that in friendship we thus 
could err, and virtue had put an honourable name to 
that error. But as a father ought not to disdain, if 
there is any vice belonging to his son, so we ought 
not to disdain, if there is any vice belonging to a 
friend : the father calls one-that-squints Paetus§, 
and, if anyone has a very little son, as the abortive 
Sisyphus was formerly, he calls him Pullus§ ; him 
with distorted legs he calls Varus§, him propped 
by very crooked ankles he lispingly-calls Scawrus§. 

This man lives rather-sparingly : let him be-called 
frugal. This man is a little inapt || and rather-boast- 
ing : he requires^", that he should seem courteous to 
his friends. But he is too-rude, and more free than 
fit : let him be-held simple and brave. He is 
too-hot : let him be-numbered among sharp per- 
sons. 

* Sift. + Inseverit. — Sown-in. J To this point. 

§ The Paiti, Pulli, Vari, Scauri, were noble families, named 

originally from some of these defects. || Void of tact. If Seeks. 



160 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

/ opine, this thing both joins, and preserves friends 
joined. 

But we invert virtues themselves, and desire to 
incrust an untainted vessel. Does anyone of-probity 
live with-us, a very condescending man ? to him we 
give the surname of a tardy and fat * man. This 
man flees all snares, and exposes an open side to no 
evil, since he moves among this kind of life, where 
sharp envy and where crimes are-vigorous : instead- 
of a very sane and not incautious man, we call him 
feigned and crafty. Some-one also is rather-simple, 
such-as often willingly / presented myself to you, 
O Maecenas, so-that troublesome with any discourse 
he interrupts a person perhaps reading or silentf ; 
" he plainly wants common sense," we say. Alas ! 
how rashly we sanction an unequal^ law against 
ourselves ! For nobody is-born without vices ; he is 
best, who is-urged§ by the least vices. A sweet 
friend, as is just, whenAe balances my good-qualities 
with my vices, should incline to these the more*]", if 
only I have more good-qualities. If he shall wish to 
be-loved by this law, he shall be-put in the same 
scale. He, who requires that he should not** offend 
his friend with his-own protuberances, will pardon 
the warts of him : it-is just, that-he desiring pardon 
for his faults should render it in-turn : 

Lastly, since the vice of ire, likewise other vices 
adhering to fools, cannot be-cut-off entirely ; wh\ 

* Fat-headed. t Musing. J Unjust. § l3-beset. 

|| More numerous. IT A r e.— That-not. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 161 

does not reason use her-own weights and measures, 
and, as each thing is, so coerce offences by punish- 
ments ? If anyone should fix that slave on a cross, 
who having been ordered to take-away a dish shall 
have licked the half-eaten fishes and warm sauce ; 
among sane persons he would be-called more-insane 
than Labeo. By-how-much more-furious and greater 
is this fault : a friend has offended a little, which un- 
less you concede*, you should be-held disagreeable, 
you harsh hate and flee him, as a debtor of money 
flees Rusot, who unless, when the sorrowful Calends* 
have come to him miserable, he extricates§ his in- 
terest or monies whencesoever||, as a captive, hears 
with outstretched neck«f[ bitter histories. Drunken 
he has made- water-over my couch, or thrown-down 
from the table a dish rubbed** by the hands of 
Evander+f: on-account-of this thing, or because hun- 
gering he has taken-away a pullet placed before me 
in my part of the dish, should he on-account-of this 
thing be a less agreeable friend to me ? what can I 
do, if he shall have committed theft, or if he shall 
have betrayed things committed to his faith|J, or 
denied a promise ? 

They whom it-has-pleased that-faults are almost 
equal, are-in-difficulty, when they have come to the 



* Admit to be such. f A money-dealer. 

X To the unprepared debtor. § Makes out. || In some way or other. 

% A sign of attention, fear and servility, as of captives offering 

their neck to the chain. ** Turned (as by a potter,) or, used. 

tj An artificer. \X Fide. — Forjidei. 

p3 



162 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

truth : sense and morals are-repugnant, and utility her- 
self, almost the mother of justice and equity. 

When animals crept-forth from the first earths, a 
mute and dirty herd, they fought for acorn and lairs, 
with nails and fists, afterwards with clubs, and so 
hereafter with arms, which use* afterwards had 
fabricated, until they invented verbs and nouns, by 
which they might note voices and senses ; hence 
they began to desist from war, they began to fortify 
towns, and appoint laws, that there might notf be 
any thief, nor robber, nor any adulterer. For before 
Helen a woman has been the worst cause of war, but 
they perished by unknown deaths, whom snatching 
uncertain Venery, in the manner of wild-beasts, the 
one more-exalted in powers slew, as the bull in the 
herd. It-is necessary that you should confess,^ if 
you should be-willing to unrol the times and annals 
of the world, that laws were invented from dread of 
injustice. Nor can nature separate injustice from 
justice, as she divides good things from different 
things, and things to-be-shunned from things to-be- 
sought : nor will reason prove this thing, that he sins 
just-so-much and the same, who shall have broken 
the tender cabbage-stalks of another's garden, and he 
who by-night shall have stolen the sacred-things of 
the Gods : let a rule be-at-hand, which may appoint 
punishments equal to the offences, nor should you 
persecute with the horrible scourge him worthy-of 

* Experience. \ Ne.— That-net. X You must needs confess. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 1G3 

the thong. For, that you should beat with a ferula 
him meriting to undergo greater stripes, / do not fear, 
since you say that thefts are things equal to rob- 
beries, and threaten that-you will cut-off with simi- 
lar hook small crimes with great crimes,* if men 
should commit to you a kingdom. If he, who is wise, 
is rich, and a good shoe-maker, and alone handsome, 
and a king ; why do you desire what you have ? 
"You do not know,"f says he, " what father Chrysip- 
pus| says." " The wise man never made slippers for 
himself, nor soles : yet the wise man is a shoemaker." 

Horatius. — How ? 

Stoic. — A.s, though Hermogenes is-silent, yet he is 
a singer and the best musician: as the subtle Alfenus, 
every instrument of his art being thrown-away, and 
his shop closed, was a shoemaker : thus the wise man 
is alone the best artificer of every work, thus he is a 
king. 

Horatius. — Wanton boys pluck your beard for you, 
whom unless you coerce with your staff, you are- 
urged§ with a crowd standing around you, and'miser- 
able are-burst||, and bark,^[0 greatest of great Kings ! 

That / may not** make a long discourse : while you 
a king shall go to bathe for a farthing, nor any at- 
tendant shall follow you except the inapt Crispinus ;++ 
both sweet friends will pardon me, if I foolish any- 



* Magnis parva. — Instead of magna et parva. t Understand. 

t One of the fathers of the Stoic philosophy. § Are-beset. 

|| With anger. ^ Bellow. ** Ne.— That- not. ft Sat. 1. 



164 THE P1RST BOOK OP SATIRES. 

what shall have offended, and in turn/ will bear the 
offences of them willingly, and a private man live 
more blest than you a king. 



SATIRE IV. 

Atf APOLOGY. 

Eupolis, and Cratinus, and Aristophanes, poets, and 
others, which men's is the ancient comedy,* if any- 
one was worthy to be-described, because he was a bad 
man, or a thief, because he was an adulterer, or an as- 
sassin, or otherwise infamous, noted him with much 
liberty. On-thisf all Lucilius| hangs, § having fol- 
lowed these, only the feet and numbers being 
changed || ; a facetious wan, of a wiped nose,^] harsh 
to compose verses: for he was in this thing faulty; 
in an hour often, as a great thing he dictated two- 
hundred verses, standing on one foot ; since he flowed 
muddy, there was what you might wish to take- 
away ; he was garrulous, and lazy to bear the labor of 
writing, of writing rightly ; for how much, / nothing 
care. 

Lo, Crispinus ** provokes ff me with his least 
finger \\\ "Accept you, if you will, / will accept 

* To which men the ancient comedy belongs. + On these. 

X A satirist- § Depends. 

I! Lucilius -wrote iu hexameters — the old comic writers in iambics 

chiefly. IT Of a refined judgment. ** Sat. 1. 

ft Challenges. XI Or, at the least stake, or, sum. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 165 

tables ;* let a place be given to us, let an hour be 
given to us, let guards be given to us] let us see, 
which-of-the-two can write the more." 

The Gods have done well, because they have formed 
me of a poor and small mind, speaking rarely and 
very-few words ; but do you, as you prefer, imitate 
winds enclosed in goat-skin bellows, continually 
labouring, till the fire softens the iron. Blest is 
Fannius,f his casesj and image§ having been vol- 
untarily offered;]] since nobody reads the writings 
of me,f fearing publicly to recite, on-account-of this 
thing, because there are those, whom this kind ** least 
delights, as the more worthy to be-blamedft- Select 
you anyone from the middle-of the crowd ; he la- 
bours either from avarice, or a miserable ambition. 
The splendor of silverJJ captivates this man; Albius 
is-stupiiied§§ with brass||||; this man changes wares 
from the rising sun, to that with which the western 
region is-warm^; yea he is-borne headlong through 
dangers, as dust collected by a whirlwind, dreading 
lest he should lose anything from his sum,*f or that 
he may increase his property. All these persons 
dread verses, all these persons hate poets. 

" He has hay on his horn* \ ; flee you far ; so-that 
he can shake-out*§a laugh for himself, he will not spare 

* Or tablets, for writing. t A poet. % Of writings. § Bust. 
|[ Presented to the Palatine library, an honor, in this case ob- 
tained by the poet's wish. r Men scripla. — For scripta mei. 
** Of -writing. tt That is, the majority deserving to be censured. 
It Plate. §§ Infatuated. |||| Bronzes. HH From east to west. 
*t Capital *J Like cattle, thus distinguished, he is mischievous. 
*$ Excite. 



166 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

any friend ; and whatever once he shall have daubed- 
over his papers, he will delight that-all persons re- 
turning from the oven and lake * should know, both 
boys and old- women." 

Come-pray, accept you a few words on-the-other- 
side : firstly I will except myself from the number of 
those, whom / may have granted to be poets : for 
neither will you have said that-it-is sufficient to 
conclude aversef;nor, if anyone should write, as we, 
thing? more-proper for discourse J, should you think 
that-he is a poet. To him, who may have genius? 
who may have a diviner mind§, and a mouth about-to- 
sound || greats things, you should give the honor of this 
name. Therefore some have queried, whether 
comedy should be** a poem, or not ; because the 
strong spirit and force is-in neither the words nor 
thingsff ; except that by a certain footJJ it differs- 
from discourse§§, it is mere discourse§§. 

"But an ardent father rages, because a spendthrift 
son, insane with|||| a harlot mistress, refuses a wife 
with a grand dowry, and, what is a great dis- 
grace, walks-about drunken before night with 
torchesff." 

Whether could Pomponius*f headwords lighter*^ 

* Returning with bread from the public oven, or water from the 
lake. t Make a liDe with the regular number of feet. J Prose. 
§ A mind of a diviner cast. || That can express. II Sublime. 
** Should be considered. ft The language nor the subjects. 

XX Measure. §§ Prose- |||| Infatuated with. 

IT^T An allusion to Menedemus in Terence's Heautontimorumenos. 

*t Some profligate youth. *J Less severe reproaches. 



TTTE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 167 

than those, if his father lived ? Therefore it-is not 
sufficient, to write a verse in pure* words : which if 
you should dissolvef, anyone may ragej in-the-same 
manner, in which the personated § father. From 
these verses, which now I write, which formerly 
Lucilius wrote, if you should take-away certain 
times^, and measures, and make the word poste- 
rior, which is prior in order, placing the last words 
before^" the first words; you would not, as if you 
should dissolve,! " After discord horrid broke-open 
the iron posts and gates of war** ;" find even the 
limbs of a dispersed poet. 

Hitherto this subject : at-another-time, / will in- 
quire whether tYff is a just poem, or not; now / will 
inquire this only : whether this kind of writing \ % is 
deservedly suspected by you. Sulcius§§ the sharp 
walks-about, and Caprius§§, very hoarsej|||, and with 
their libels^ ; each a great terror to robbers ; but if 
anyone lives well and with pure hands, he may con- 
temn each. Though you may be like Ccelius, and 
Birrius, the robbers, I am not like Caprius, nor Sul- 
cius ; why should you dread me ? No shop, nor 
pillar, should have my books*f, which the hand of the 



* Proper. t Take to pieces. 

X Express his rage. § Represented. || Quantities. 

^f Prceponens. — Placing-before. 

** From Ennius. ft Comedy. 

XX Satire. §§ An accuser. ||[| From pleading. 

HIT Informations. 

; t Booksellers exposed their books in shops and round pillars. 



168 THE F1BST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

vulgar may sweat-on, and of Hermogenes Tigellius* ; 
neither do /recite to anyone, except to friends, and 
that having been compelled, not anywhere, or before 
any. 

" There are many writers, who would recite their 
writings in the middle -of the forum, and who bath- 
ingf would recite: the enclosed place sweetly re- 
sounds to the voice." 

This thing delights empty persons, not inquiring 
this, whether they may do it without sense, whether 
they may do it at an unsuitable time. 

"You rejoice to hurt," he says, " and depraved % 
do this with study. "§ 

Whence sought do you cast this at me ? who 
lastly of those, with whom /have lived, is the author ? 
He who gnaws || his absent friend, who does not 
defend him, another blaming him ; who catches-at^[ 
the free laughs of men, and the fame of a talkative** 
person; who can feign things not seen; who cannot 
be-silent-respecting things committed to him ; he 
is blackff ; him do you, O Roman, beware-of. 

Often you may see that-guests sup four-together 
on three couchesjt, of whom the lowest guest may- 
love in-any-way to asperse all the rest, except him, 
who affords the water §§; afterwards, him also when 
drunk, when veracious|';|| Libert opens the concealed 

* The Hermogenes of Sat. 3, who, among other things, affected 
the character of a literary man. t At the baths. J Malignant. 
§ Design. || Eack-bites. % Courts. ** Witty. tt Bad. 

II Guests reclined on couches, commonly four on each. 
§§ A periphrasis for the host. !!i| Truth-speaking. C,T Wine. 



TUB FIKST BOOK OF SATIRES. 169 

feelings. This man seems courteous, and urbane, 
and free, to you inimical to black* men. I, if / 
have laughed, because inapt " Rufillus smells-of pas- 
tiles, and Gorgonius smells-of a he-goat+," seem en- 
vious and biting J to you. 

If mention in-any-way shall have been thrown-in 
concerning the thefts of Petillius Capitolinus before 
you ; you would defend, as your manner is : " Capi- 
tolinus has used§ me a companion and friend from 
a boy, and for my sake having been asked has done 
very-many things ; and / rejoice that he lives unin- 
jured in The City : but yet / wonder, in what manner 
he may have escaped that judgment||." This 85 the 
juice of the black cuttle-fish^I ; this is mere rust;** 
that- which vice shall be-absent far from my papers, 
and from my mind before, as if ft ^ ca n promise any- 
thing else concerning myself truly, / promise. If 
/ shall have said anything too-freely, if haply too- 
jocosely ; you will give this right to me with 
pardon. 

My best father accustomed me to;| this thing, that 
T should avoid them, by noting each of the vices in 
examples. When he exhorted me, that / should 
live sparingly, frugally, and content with that which 
he-himself had prepared for me : " Do not you see, 
how badly the son of Albius lives ? and how poor 
Barrus lives ?- a great lesson, lest anyone should wish 

* Malignant, + Sat. 2. % Satirical. § Experienced. 

II Sentence. 51 The essence of malignant envy. ** Rancour. 

tt So far as. \% Jnauevit. — Accustcmerf-to. 

Q 



170 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATISES- 

to squander his paternal estate." When he deterred 
from the base love of a harlot: '■ You should be un- 
like Sectanus," he said. " The wise man will render 
causes to you, what* may be better to-be-avoided 
and to-be-sought ; for me it-is sufficient, if /can pre- 
serve the morality handed-down by ancient wen, and, 
while you need, a guardian, keep your life, and fame 
unimpaired : and as-soon-as age shall have hardened 
your limbs and your mind, you will swim without 
cork." Thus he formed me a boy by his words ; 
and, whether he ordered, that / should do anything, 
i( You have an authority, wherefore you should do 
this thing ,•" he instanced one of the select judges ; 
or forbade, that I should do anything, " Can you 
doubt whether this thing is dishonorable and useless 
to-be-done, or-not, when this man burns with an evil 
rumorf and that man ?" As a neighbouring funeral 
exanimates sick greedy persons, and from dread of 
death compels them to spare themselves ; so another's 
reproaches often deter tender minds from vices- 
From this kind of education I am sound from those 
vices, whatever being perniciousness ; by moderate 
vices, and which you may pardon, Jam held : perhaps 
too thence | a long age, or a free§ friend, or my-own 
judgment, largely may have abstracted. For neither, 
when the couch or portico has received me !|, am / 
wanting^! to myself : "This thing is better, doing this 

* As to what. t Is become a burning shame. I From the?e. 

§ Candid. 

|| While reclining on my couch, or walking in the porticos. 

If Desum. — Am-wanting. 



THE PJBST BOOK OF SATIRES. 171 

thing I shall live better ; thus agreeable 2" shall 
meet my friends ; a certain-one did this thing not 
handsomely; whether shall I imprudent hereafter do 
anything similar to that ?" These things I agitate* 
with-myself with compressed lips : when any ease is- 
givenf, / play-withj my papers : this is one of those 
moderate vices ; to which if you should be-unwilling 
to concede, a great band of poets would come, which 
would be an assistance to me for ice are by-much 
the more §, and as the Judeans, we will compel you 
to come-over to this crowd. II 



SATIRE V. 

A JOURNEY FROM ROME TO BRUNDUSIUM. 

Aricta received mehavi g set-out from great Rome 
in a moderate inn; a rhetorician was my companion, 
Heliodorus, by-far the most-learned of the Greeks. 
Thence the Forum^[ o{ Appius**, stuffed with sailors, 
and malignant inn-keepers, received us. We lazy 
divided this journey, one to persons more-highly 
girt-aboutff than we : the Appian way is too heavy 

♦Revolve. t Leisure is allowed me. J Amuse myself with. 

§ More-numerous. || Our party. 

IT Here a small town with a court of justice and a market. 
** Near the road o f Appius. 
tt More expedite. Tbe phrase applies to those who wear flowing 
dresses, and corresponds to the Greek term cv£covos, well-girt, 
active. 



172 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

for tardy persons. Here I, on-account-of the water, 
because it was most-vile, declare war against* my 
bellyf, waiting-for my supping companions not 
with an even mindj. Now night was-preparing to 
bring-on the lands shadows, and diffuse signs in the 
heaven; then theboys§ began to pour-upon the sailors || 
abuses, and the sailors || began to pour-upon the 
boys§ abuses. " Hither bring-to you." " You are- 
putting-in three-hundred persons ! hold ! now there- 
is enough." While the brass^f is-exacted, while the 
mule is-bound, a whole hour goes-away : wicked 
gnats, and frogs of-the-marsh avert sleeps : while 
the sailor** soaked with much vapid-wine sings his 
absent mistress, and a passenger vyingly : at-length 
the passenger fatigued begins to sleep : and the lazy 
sailor** ties-to a stone the reins of the mule sent to 
feed, and snores supineff. 

And now the day was-at-hand, when we feel that- 
the-boat nothing proceeded ; till one heady man leaps- 
forth, and beats the head, and sides, of the mule, and 
the sailor**, with a willow club : at the fourth hour 
scarcely at-length ice are-put-out % +• 

Our faces, and hands, we washed in your water, O 
Feronia. Then having dined we crawl three thousand 
paces §§, and come-under Anxur built-upon rocks 
widely shining. 

* Indico. — Declare-again st. 

t A metaphor, from blockading — I take no supper. J Impatiently. 

§ Servants. || Boatmen. IT Money, fare. ** Boatman. 

•ft Lying on his back. JJ Arc set ashore. 

§§ Three miles. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 173 

Hither best Maecenas was about-to-come, and 
Cocceius; sent each ambassadors concerning great 
matters, accustomed to compose averted friends. 

Here I blear-eyed began to lay-on my eyes black 
eollyria*. Meanwhile Maecenas arrives, and Coc- 
ceius, and at-the-same-time Fonteius Capito, a man 
made to the nailf, a friend of Antonius, so-that there 
was not another more. 

Fundi, Aufidius Luscus being praetor*, willingly we 
leave, laughing-at the praemia§ of the insane 
scribe||, the praetexta^T, and broad clavus*"*, and pan 
of coalff- 

Next-afterward we weary remain in the city of 
the Mamurraejj, Muraena affording a house§§, Capito 
affording a kitchen|||. 

The following lights arises by-much the most- 
agreeable : for Plotius, and Varius, and Virgilius, 
meet us at Sinuessa ; souls, such-as the earth neither 
has borne more-candid, nor to which another is more- 



* Eye-salves. 
t A phrase of sculptors who elaborate every part, even to the 
finger-nail, or prove the smoothness o ithe surface with the finger- 
nail — a man most highly accomplished or polished. 

J Chief magistrate, ironically applied. 
§ Insignia, or, marks of office. || Town-clerk. 

IT A toga, or, gown, with purple border, worn by praetors and 
higher magistrates. ** A stripe of purple worn by senators, 

tt For burning incense, and borne before the magistrate on solemn 
occasions. 

XX Formiaj— formerly belonging to the family of the Mamurrae. 
§§ Lodging. ||[1 Supper. TfH Day. 

q3 



174 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

attached than myself. what embraces ! and how- 
great joys there were ! I sane should have compared 
nothing to an agreeable friend. 

The little-village which is nearest to the Campa- 
nian bridge, afforded a house* ; and the parochif, 
which things they ought, afforded logs and salt. 

Hence the mules deposit their pack-saddles at 
Capua in time J. Maecenas goes to play, I go to 
sleep, and Virgilius: for to play with a ball is inimi- 
cal to blear-eyed and crude§ persons. 

Hence the most-full villa of Cocceius receives us, 
which is above the inns of Caudium. 

Now, O Muse, / would wish that you should relate 
to me in a few words the battle of Sarmentus the 
buffoon and Messius Cicirrus : and of what father 
born each may have brought-together strifes |j. 
The illustrious race of Messius are the Osci^[; the mis- 
tress of Sarmentus exists.** From these ancestors 
sprung they came to the battle. First Sarmentus 
says, " I say that-you are like a wild horse." We 
laugh: and Messius himself says, " 1 acceptf f ;"and 
moves his head : " O ! if your forehead were not H 
with Its horn cut-out, he says, what might you do, 
since thus mutilated you threaten ?" But a foul 
scar had disfigured the bristly front of his left cheek. 
Having joked very-much upon his Campanian dis- 
* Lodging. 

+ Officers, -who, at public expense afforded wood, salt, and other 
necessaries, to travellers for the state. J In good time- 

5 Dyspeptic. || Contended. % Irony, for the Osci were infamous. 
** Is still living. tt The challenge. IJ A'i\— If-not. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. I/O 

ease*; and upon his face, he asked, that he should 
dance the shepherd Cyclopsf; adding that there was 
no need to him of a mask, or Tragic buskins. % Ci- 
cirrus retorted many things to these words, he in- 
quired, whether already he had presented his chain 
according to vow to the Lares § : because he was a 
scribe, he said, that-the-right of his mistress was by 
nothing worse ||. He asked lastly, why ever he had 
fled^I, for whom, so slender, and so small, one 
pound of corn** might be sufficient. 

In-short we agreeably prolouged that supper. 

We go hence straight to Beneventum, where the 
sedulous host almost burnt, while he turns lean 
thrushes at the fire : for the fire escaping through 
the old kitchen, the wandering flame hastened to 
lick the summit-of the roof. Then you might see 
that the greedy guests, and slaves fearing+t, snatched 
the supper, and all wished to extinguish %%. 

From that place Apulia begins to show to me her 
known§§ mountains, which Atabulus|||j scorches, and 
which we never would have crawled-out-of^, unless 
the neighbouring village of Trivicus had received us, 
not without tearful*f smoke, the hearth burning wet 
branches with the leaves. 

* As the source of the scar, and regarded as disreputable. 

t Personate in dancing Polyphemus. 

X He was ugly enough and bulky enough. 

§ Sarmentus had been a slave. || Not the less. IT Run away. 

** The slave's allowance. ft In fear. %% The fire. 

§§ Well known. |||| A wind peculiar to Apulia. 

If 11 Ereps£mus. — For erejwissemus — surmounted. *t Tear-causing 



176 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

Hence we are-hurried in cars four and twenty- 
thousand paces*, about-to-remain in a little-townf, 
which in verse is not very-easy to mention, but by 
signs is very-easy to mention; here water, the vilest 
of things*, is-sold; but the bread is by-far the finest 
so-that the knowing traveller is-accustomed to carry 
it on his shoulders farther ; for at Canusium§ the 
bread is stony ; an urn of water is not richer|[ ■ 
which place was built formerly by the brave Dio- 
medes. Here Varius departs mournful from his 
weeping friends. 

Thence we came-to Rubi wearied, inasmuch-as 
performing a long journey, and made more-corrupt H 
by rain. The following time** was better, the way 
was worse, even to the walls of fishful Barium. 
From-hence Gnatia erected on enraged waters gaveff 
both laughs, and jokes, while it desires to persuade 
that-frankincense liquefies without flame in the 
sacred threshold** : the Judean Apella may credit it, 
I do not credit it : for / have learned that-the-Gods 
lead a life without-care§§ : nor, if nature should do 
any wonder, that-the-Gods anxious send it down|||| 
from the, high roof of heaven. 

Brundusium was the end both of my long paper and 
journey. 

* Twenty-four miles. t Equotutium. J The worst in the world. 

§ The next stage. || No fuller— water is as scarce as at Equotutium. 

f Worse. ■* Weather. ft Afforded. 

XX A pretended miracle. 

v5 Of human affairs, a doctrine of Epicurus. 

[| || Demittere. — Send-down. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 177 

SATIRE VI. 

TRUE NOBILITY. 

Not because, Maecenas, whatever of the Lydians 
has* inhabited the Etruscan territoiies, nobody is 
more-generousf than you, nor because you had a 
maternal grandfather and a paternal grandfather, 
who formerly commanded great regions, as most 
persons are- wont, do you suspend], on a hooked nose§ 
unknown persons,a.s me born-of a father a freedman: 
since you deny that-it-imports, of what parent any- 
one may be born, so-that he is ingenuous|j. You 
persuade yourself this thing truly, before the power 
and ignoble reign of Tullius^f, often that-many men 
sprung from no ancestors** both have lived honour- 
able, and augmented with honors : and, on the-con- 
trary, that-Lcevinus, a descendant of Valerius, 
whenceff Superbus Tarquinius was driven from the 
kingdom, not ever was-valued at-more than the price 
of one asj+, the people, whom§§ you know, being the 
judge noting HI : who foolish often gives honors to 
unworthy persons, and silly serves^ fame; who is- 
iufatuated with titles*f and images *£. 

* Of all the Lydians who. f More nobly horn. 

% Suhpendis— Do-suspend. § Turn up your nose at. 

j] Well-bred. H The slave. ** Ancestors of r.o rank. 

tt By whom. XX Sat. 1. 

§§ Quo.— For quern — a Grecism. |||| 'Affixing the value. 

HIT Is a slave to. *t Inscriptions. *J Busts. 



178 TIIE FIRST EOOK OF SATIRES. 

What is-it-fit that-we should do, far and widely re- 
moved from the vulgar ? For be-it, the people 
might rather-wish to commit an honor to Lsevinus, 
than new* Deeius ; and the Censor Appius might 
movef me, if / were not born-of an ingenuous:}: 
father ; even deservedly, since / had not been-quiet§ 
in my-own skinjj. But Glory in her glittering 
car draws bound-together unknown persons not less 
than generous^" persons. For-what has-it-profited 
you, Tullius, to take the deposited** stripeff, and 
become a tribune|t ? Envy has increased, which 
might be less to you a private person. For when 
each insane man has impeded§§ the middle-of his 
leg with black skins, ||||and let-down the wide stripeff 
from his breast, he hears continually, ' ; Who is this 
man, or of what father born"^ ? As, if he who should 
be-sick, with the disease with which Barms was- 
sick** and should desire to be-held handsome, 
whereever he should go, should put-in girls a care*J 
of inquiring several things ,- of-what-sort-of face he 
may be, of-what-sort-of leg he may be, of-what-sort- 
of foot he may be, of-what-sort-of tooth he may be, 
of-vshat-sort-of hair he may be : thus, he who pro- 

* Novus. — Novus homo, a new man, was a term of reproach for 
the first great man of a family. t Remove, degrade. 

X Well born. § Rested content. 

|| Condition. An allusion to iEsop's fable of the ass in the lion's 
skin. IT Nobly born. ** Laid down, tj Sat. 5. 

XX Tribuno. — For trlbunum — a Grecism. §§ Encircled. 

HI) Straps with which the senators' sandals were fastened. 
<|f Xutiis.— Born-of. *r Vanity. *J Inspire girls with a curiosity 



Tilt: FIBST BOOK OF SATIRES. 179 

raises, that-the-citizens, the city, the empire shall be 
a care to him, and Italy, and the temples of the 
Gods, * compels all mortals to care and inquire, of 
what father he may be bornf, whether he is dis- 
honourablej by an unknown mother. 

" Do you § the son of a Syrus||, a Dama||, or 
Dionysius||, dare to cast-down citizens from the 
rock^j", or deliver them to Cadmus** V 

"Butff Novius my colleague sits behind me by 
one degree; for he is, what my father was J J." 

** On-account of this do you seem to yourself a 
Paulus,§§ and Messala|||| ? but this man ^ if two- 
hundred waggons, and three funerals should come- 
together in the forum, will sound great things, which 
may conquer-*f the horns and trumpets : at-least this 
holds *J us." 

Now Ireturn to myself born-of a father a freedman, 
whom born-of a father a freedman all persons gnaw*|| 
now, because I am a companion to you, Maecenas ; 
but formerly, because a Roman legion obeyed me a 
tribune. This thing is dissimilar to that thing : be- 
cause, though perhaps anyone with right may envy 
rae the honor, he cannot so also envy me you a friend, 

* The terms of a senator's oath on taking office, 
t Natus. — Born-of. J Disgraced. 

5 Do you, &c. — The speech of one of the people to a new tn'bune. 
|| A slave- % The Tarpeian rock. ** The executioner, 
tt But, &c— The reply of the tribune Tullius. 
tJ Novius was a freed-man, but Tullius the son of a freed man, 
and thus a degree above him. §§ L. iEmilius Paulus. 

Illl Valerius Messala Corvinus. 1J1T Novius. 

*t Shout loud enough to drown. *J Takes. *|| Carp at. 



180 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

especially cautious to admit worthy persons, depraved 
ambition being far. They can not say that-I am 
lucky on-account-of this thing-, because by accident 
I obtained* you a friend : for no accident presented 
me to you ; best Virgiliusf formerly, after him 
Varius,J said what / was. AVhen / came before 
you, stammeringly / spoke § few words, (for infan- 
tine shame prohibited that-/ should speak-out more II 
words,) I do not narrate that-I was born-of an illus- 
trious father, I do not narrate that-I was carried 
about my fields on a Satureian horse^f, but, what I 
was, I narrate: you respond (as your manner is.) few 
words : / go-away ; and you recall me in the ninth 
month afterwards, and command that-1 should be in 
the number of your friends. I reckon this a 
great thing, that i" have pleased you, who distinguish 
the honourable man from the base man, not by a dis- 
tinguished father, but the life and pure breast. 

But-yet, if my nature is faulty by vices moderate 
and few, otherwise right, (as if you should reprehend 
moles scattered-over an excellent body;) if neither 
avarice, nor sordidnesses, or bad haunts anyone will 
object truly to me ; if (that / may commend myself.) 
I live pure, and innocent, and dear to my friends ; my 
father has been the cause of these things, who poor 
with a lean little-field** has been-unwilling to send 

* Sortitus.— Understand sum. t Od. I. 3. t Od. I 6. 

§ Locutus. — Understand sum. || Many. 

f From the pans of Apulia called Satureian, and of a good breed. 

*•* Small Farm. 



THE P1BST BOOK OF SATIRES. 181 

me to the school of Flavius* ; where great youths, 
sprung from great centurionsf, suspending their bags 
and tablet from the left arm went, carrying -back 
monies* at the eight Ides§ : but dared to carry me a 
boy to Rome to-be-taught arts, which every knight 
and senator would teach those sprung-from himself. 
If anyone had seen my vest, and slaves following, 
though among a great people, he might thiuk that- 
those expenses were afforded to me from an ancestral 
estate. He-himself a most-uncorrupt guardian was- 
at-hand to me around all my teachers. Why should 
I say many words ? he preserved me chaste (which 
is the first honor of virtue) not only from every act, 
but also base reproach: nor feared lest anyone should 
turn it to him for a fault hearafter, if a praeco||, or, 
(as he-himslf was,) a collector!! / should follow small 
wares; nor /should have complained. But on-ac- 
count-of this thing now praise is-owed to him, and 
from me the greater gratitude. 

Nothing can-it-repent me sane of this father : and 
therefore / will not so defend myself, as a great part 
denies that-it-was done by its-own device, that it has 
not ingenuous** and illustrious parents. Far may 
both my voice and reason dissent from such persons. 
For, if nature should command that-we should go-over 
the time gone-through from certain years, and choose 
for pride any other parents, each might wish for him- 

* At Venusia. t Captains of centuries, of a hundred infr ntrp. 

% The master's salary. § The ides of eight day . Ep. II. 

|| Auctioneer. 5T Auctioneer's clerk. ** Nobly born. 

R 



182 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

self; 7, content with my parents, should be-un willing 
to take to myself those honourable by fasces* and 
chairs f ; mad in the judgment of the vulgar, sane 
perhaps in your judgment ; because I should be-un- 
willing, not ever having been-accustomed, to carry 
a troublesome burden. For continually a greater 
estate might be to-be-sought by me ; and more per- 
sons might be to-be-saluted; and one and another 
companion might be to-be-taken, so-that I could not 
go-out alone either to the country or abroad ; more 
servants and horses might be to-be-fed ; carriages 
might be to-be-hired. Now it-is-permitted to me to 
go ; even, if it-pleases, as-far-as Tarentum, on my 
docked mule, for which a portmanteau might ulcerate 
the sides by its weight, and the rider might ulcerate 
the shoulders. 

Nobody will object sordidnesses to me, which they 
object to you, Tullius, when on the Tiburtine way 
five slaves follow you a praetor, carrying a stool and 
a wine-vessel. In this thing and many other things 
I live more-commodiously than you, distinguished 
senator. Wherever I have a desire, I proceed alone : 
I inquire at-how-much vegetable is, and bread : I 
wander- through the fallacious circus t, and often in- 
the-evening the forum ; I stand-by the diviners : 
thence /betake myself home to a dish of leek, pulse, 
and cake. Supper is-served by three slaves: and a 
white stone § sustains two cups with a goblet : a 

* Od. I. 12. t Of state. J The resort of diviners, jugglers, &c 
§ A white marble slab. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 183 

cheap ewer stands-by, a cruet with a cup, Campanian 
furniture. Afterwards / go to sleep, not solicitous 
that tomorrow it-is to-be-risen by me in-the-morn- 
ing, that Marsya* is to-be-gone-to, who deniesf that- 
he can bear the countenance of the lesser of the 
Novii}! / lie to the fourth hour : after this hour [ 
wander, or I, that being read, or written, which may 
delight me tacit, am-anointed with olive-oil, not 
that with which the unclean Natta is-anointed the 
lamps Deing defrauded. But, when the sun more- 
violent has admonished me wearied to go to bathe, 
/ flee the plain and the triangular game§. Having 
dined not greedily, as-much-as may prevent that- 
the-day should last with an empty stomach, 7 am- 
at-ease at-home. 

This is the life of those released from miserable 
and grievous ambition. With these things I console 
myself about-to-live more-sweetly, than if my grand- 
father had been a queestor||, and my father, and uncle. 

* The statue of Marsya in the forum — the forum. 
+ Seems to deny, by hh posture. 
% Younger of the Novii, a money-dealer, who frequented the forum- 
§ Played by three persons, who stood at the points of a triangle, 
and threw a ball from one to another. 

|| Formerly a judge, latterly a treasurer, a place of honor and 
yrofit. 



184 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

SATIRE VII. 

RUPILIUS AND PERSIUS. 

In what manner the mongrel Persius* avenged the 
pus and venomf of the proscribed + Rupilius Rex, i" 
opine to be a known thing both to all the blear-eyed 
persons% and barbers||. This rich Persius did have 
very- great negotiations at Clazomena?, also trouble- 
some litigations with Rex ; a hardy man, and who 
could conquer Rex in disagreeableness, confident and 
tumid, of so bitter discourse, that he could out-run 
the Sisennee and Barri^I with white horses.** 

/ return to Rex : after-that nothing became-conve- 
nientff between each (for all persons whom adverse 
war befalls, are in this rigbt++ troublesome, in which 
they are brave ; between Hector Priamides§§ and be- 
tween spirited Achilles the anger was so capital ||||, 
that ultimate death could divide^, not on-account-of 
other cause, unless that virtue*! was supreme in each ; 
ifdiscord should vex two inert persons, or if war should 
befall unequal persons, as Diomedes withLycian Glau- 
cus, the more-inactive person will depart, presents*]; 
voluntarily being sent); Brutus the praetor holding rich 

* Persius was the son of a Greek father, and Roman mother, 
t Abuse and virulence. % Outlawed. § Sots. 

|| Proverbial, like the former, for gossipping. 
% Infamous for virulent speech. 
** Proverbial for superiority in anyway; white horses being deemed 
the swiftest tt Was agreed. %% In the s'ame proportion. 

§§ Son of Priam. |||| Deadly fl'li Alone terminate it. 
*t Valor. *% Teace-ofieriEgs. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 185 

Asia* the pair of Rupilius and Persius fights : so-that 
JBacchiusf was not put-together*: better with Bithusf . 
They sharp run-forth into court, a great spectacle each. 

Persius expounds the cause; it-is-laughed by all 
the convention!; he praises Brutus, and praises his 
cohort j| ; he names Brutus the sun of Asia*, and 
names his companions^! salubrious stars, Rex being 
excepted ; he says that-that dog had come, like the 
star hated by agriculturists**. He did rush, as a win- 
try flood, where a rare axe is-carriedff. 

Then the Prcenestine J % for him flowing salt §§ 
and much ||j directed reproaches expressed from the 
vineyardH1f,ahardy and invincible vintager, to whom 
often the traveller had yielded, calling cuckoo *f 
with a great voice. 

But the Grecian Persius, after-that he was be- 
sprinkled with Italian vinegar**, exclaims : "0 Brutus, 
by the great Gods I pray you, who have been-accus- 
tomed to take-off kings*§, why do not you throttle this 
King*|| ? credit you me, this is one of your works**]"." 



* Ionia, t A gladiator. J Matched. § The "whole assembly laughs 
II Court. IT Staff. ** The dog-star. 

tt Where the axe rarely comes— through a dense forest. 
XX Rupilius, of Praeneste. §5 Sharp. |||| Diffuse. 

^H In the terms of vintagers. 
* f- A term of reproach, implying sloth, applied to those who neg- 
lected to prune their vines till the cuckoo was heard. 
*X The Roman's sharp abuse. 
*§ An allusion to the assassination of Caesar by Brutus j and the 
expulsion of the Tarquins by his ancestor Junius Brutus. 
*|| Rupilius, surnamed Rex, King. *1f Offices. 

»3 



186 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

SATIRE VIII. 

PRIAPUS AND CANIDIA. 

Formerly I was a trunk of-a-fig-tree* ; an inutile 
log, when the artificer, uncertain, whether he should 
make a bench or a Priapus, chose-rather ihat-I should 
be a God. Thence I have been a God, the greatest 
dread of thieves and birds ; for my righthand coerces 
thieves, but a reed fixed on my head terrifies impor- 
tunate birds, and forbids that-they should settle in the 
new gardens. 

Beforef, the carcasses thrown-out from narrow 
cellsj tc-be-carried hither the fellow-slave did place 
in a cheap coffin. This place did stand a com- 
mon sepulchre for the miserable populace, Panto- 
labus the buffoon, and Nomentanus the spendthrift. 
Here a column did give§ a thousand feet in front, 
and three-hundred feet toward the field; lest the 
monumentli should folio w^f the heirs. 

Now it-is-allowable to dwell in the salubrious Es_ 
quiliae**, and walk-about on the sunny terrace, where 
lately jiersons sorrowful beheld the field deformed with 
white bones, though to me both the thieves and wild- 
beasts, accustomed to vex this place, are not so- 
much a care and labor, as those who turn human 
minds with charms and poisons ; these / can in no 
manner destroy nor prohibit, as-soon as the wandering 

* Statues of Priapus were often made of the fig-tree, 
t Before the place was converted into gardens. 
t The dead bodies of slaves thrown out of their confined abodes. 
§ Define. Sepulchre. f Return to. ** £p. 5. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 187 

Moon has put-forth her beauteous face, but-that fhey 
gather bones, and noxious herbs. 

I-myself have seen that-Canidia girt-up with a 
black pall went, with naked feet, and dishevelled 
hair, howling with the greater* Sagana. Pallor had 
made both horrible to-be-beheld. They began to 
scrape the earth with their nails, and tear-asunder 
bitinglyf a black lamb. Gore was poured-together 
into the fosse*, that thence§ they might elicit manes, 
souls about-to-give responses. And there was a wool- 
len effigy, and another effigy of-wax; the woollen 
effigy was the greater effigy, which by punishments 
might restrain the inferior effigy. The waxen effigy 
did stand suppliantly, and as now about-to-perish in 
servile manners. The one|| invokes Hecate, the 
other^I invokes savage Tissiphone : you might see that- 
serpents and infernal dogs wandered, and the ruddy 
Moon, lest she should be a witness to these things, 
lurked behind great sepulchres. 

Why should / mention the several things**, in 
what manner the shades speaking alternate words 
with Sagana resoundedff sorrowfully and acutelyJJ ? 
and how they put-away stealthily in the earths the 
beard of a wolf with the tooth of a various§§ serpent ; 
and a larger fire burned with the waxen image ; and 
how, not an unavenged witness, / suppressed the 
voices and deeds of the two Furies? For, my buttock 

* Elder, t With their teeth. I Trench. § Or, by these means. 

|| Canidia. 1T Sagana. ** Particulars. +f Responded. 

XX Shrilly. §§ Variegated, spotted. 



188 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES, 

being cleft-asunder, / a fig-tree emitted-a-sound, as- 
great-as a burst-asunder bladder sounds. But they 
began to run into the city ; and with, great laughter 
andjokeyow might see, that-the-teeth* of Canidia, 
and the high capf of Sagana fell-off, and the herbs, 
and enchanted bands from their arms. 



SATIRE IX. 

AN IMPERTINENT. 

/ was going accidentally on the Via Sacra, as my 
custom is, meditating / know-not what of triflesj, 
and all in § them : a certain-one runs-up, known to 
me by name only, and, my hand being seized-on, 
says, "What thing are you doing,|| sweetest man?" 
" Sweetly, as new it-is^]"," / say ; " and I desire all 
things which you wish.**" Since he followed-up, 
" Do you wish anything ? " I anticipate. 

But he says, " You should know us, we are learned." 
Here I say, " On-account-of this you will be of 
more value to me." Miserably ff seeking to depart, 
/ began to go more-quickly, sometimes to stand-still, 
and say into the earJJ / know-not what to my slave ; 
when sweat flowed to the bottom-of my ancles : " 
you, Bolanus§§, happy-in a brain ! " / said tacit. 

* False teeth. f Wig. t Verses. § Wholly intent on. 

|| How do you do ? IT Pretty well as times go. ** Complimentary, 
ft Sadly. XX Whisper. §§ Somebody very choleric, or, very stupid. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 189 

When he prated anything, when he praised the 
streets, when he praised the city : as / responded no- 
thing to him, 

" Miserably* you desire," he says, " to go-away ? 
now long-since / see : but you dof nothing : / will 
even holdyow: / will follow : hence whither now is 
the road for you ? " 

"It-is not-at-all necessary that-you should be-car- 
ried-about : / wish to visit a certain-one not known 
to you ; he lies-down X beyond the Tiber far, near 
the gardens of Caesar." 

" / have nothing which I should do, and am not 
lazy ; / will even follow you." 

/ let-down my ears, as an ass of uneven temper, 
when he has gone-under with his back a heavier§ 
load. He begins : "If well / know myself, you will 
not makeW Viscus a friend of more value, you will not 
makefi Varius a friend of more value : for who can 
write more verses than I, or more-quickly ? who can 
move his members more-softly5I ? I sing, that even 
Hermogenes** may envy." 

Here was a place ff of interrupting : " Have you a 
mother, have you relations, who have need-of you 
well ? " 

" I have not anyone ; / have composed \\ all." 

"Happy they§§\ Now I remain. Dispatch you 

* Sadly. t Effect. 

X Keeps his bed. § Too heavy. H Esteem. 

1F Who can dance more gracefully. ** Sat. 3. +t Opportunity. 

XX Buried. §§ Aside, as well as the rest of the speech. 



190 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

me ; for the sad fate is-at-hand to me, which the Sa- 
bine old- woman sang to me a boy, the divine urn* 
being moved : ' Him neither dire poisons, nor hostile 
sword shall carry-off, nor pain of the sides,f or cough, 
nor tardy gout ; a garrulous person sometime shall 
consume him: loquacious perso?is, if he should be- 
wise, let him avoid, as-soon as his age shall have 
grown-up.' "+ 

It-had-been-come to§ the temple of Vesta, the fourth 
part of the day now being gone-by ; and by chance 
then he was-bound to respond to him having admitted 
him to bail ||; which thing unless he had done, he was 
obliged to lose the suit. 

" If you love me," he says, u come-to here a little;" 

"May /perish, if either / am-able to stand, or 
know civil rights ; and / hasten whither you know." 

"/am dubious what /should do," he says, " whe- 
ther / should relinquish you, or the matter." 

" Me do you relinquish, I-pray." 

" / will not do it" he said, and began to precede. 
I, (as it-is a hard thing to contend with a victor) 
follow. 

"How is Maecenas with-you^?" hence** he re- 
sumes, tl one of few men, and a very sane mind; no- 
body has used his fortune more-dexterously than-you. 
You might have a great assistant, who could bear 

* Magic urn containing the decrees of fate. t Pleurisy. 

% Matured. § We had arrived at. 

|| Vadato. — Having admit ted-to-bail, 
f How do Maecenas and you get on ? ** Thus. 



THE FIRST BOOK OP SATIRES. 191 

second parts*, if you should be-willing to com- 
mendfthis man J: may / perish, if you should not§ 
have removedll all the rest." 

" We do not live there in that manner, which you 
think. Neither any house is purer than this house, 
nor more alien from these evils^I : nothing does-it- 
make-against** me, /say, because this man is richer 
or more-leamed ; everyone has his placeff." 

" You narrate a great thing, scarcely credible." 

" But-yet so the thing has itself \\." 

" You inflame me, wherefore / should desire more 
to be next to him§§." 

" You should wish only ; such is your virtue, you 
will conquer. And he is one who may be-conquered ; 
and therefore has his first approaches difficult." 

" / will not be-wanting to myself: / will corrupt 
his slaves with presents ; /will not, if to-day / shall 
have been excluded, desist: /will seek times |||| : / 
will meet him in the three-ways*H^[, / will bring him 
down*f. Life has given nothing to mortals without 
great labor." 

While he acts *J these things, behold, Fuscus Aris- 
tius comes-up, dear to me, and who had known him 
fairly; We stand-together: "Whence come you 2 . 
and whither go you ?" he asks, and responds. / be- 
gan to pull, and grasp with my hand his most-passive 

* A stage phrase. + Introduce. J Pointing to himself. 

§ Ni. — If-not. || Supplanted. 1T Jealousies. 
** Injure. + r Proper station. ft It is. §§ Near his person. 

HII Opportunities. 1T1T Cross-ways, streets. 

*t Deducam.— Bring-down— conduct him home. *J Arranges. 



192 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

arms, nodding, and distorting my eyes, that he might 
rescue me. Wickedly* saltf, and laughing, he began 
to dissemble ; bile began to burn my liver. 

"Certainly, you did say that-you wished to say / 
know-not what % with-me secretly. "§ 

" / remember well ; but at a better time T 
will speak : to-day is the thirtieth sabbath || : do 
you wish that- 1 should offend the curtailed^ 
Judeans?" 

" I have no religion**," / say. 

" But / have : / am a little more-infirmft, one of 
the many: you will pardon; at- another-time / will 
speak," 

"Have I deserved that-this sun should have 
arisen|;J; so black§§ to me|j|j?" The wicked man flees, 
and leaves me under the coulter^. By accident 
his adversary comes opposite to him, and, " Whither 
are you going, O basest man ?" he exclaims with a 
great voice; and, " Is-it-allowable to take you as a 
witness *t ?" I truly oppose my ear*J ; he hurries him 
into court ; a clamor is on-both-tides ; a concourse is 
on-every-side. 

Thus Apollo*§ preserved me. 

* Mischievously. t Witty. X Something. § Privately. 
|| The thirtieth, or, last day of the moon, held as a day of rest 
by the Jevrs. ST Circumcised. ** Religious scruple, 

tt Weaker. tl Surrexe.— For surrexihse. §§ Inauspicious. 
|| || Aside. Iff In danger. 

*t Antestari — To take-as-a- -witness. 
*J Offer my ear — to be touched, the form of assent. 
*§ The God of poets. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 193 

SATIRE X. 

LUCTLIUS.* 

Certainly /have said that-the-verses of Lucilius 
run with a discomposed foot f : who is so foolishly a 
favourer of Lucilius, that he would not confess this 
thing ? But the same person, because he has rubbed- 
ofTj the city with much salt§, is-praised in the 
same paper||. Nor however, attributing this thing, 
should / have granted also the other things ; for thus 
1 might admire even the mimes^" of Laberius, as 
beautiful poems. Therefore it-is not sufficient, with 
laughter to divide the mouth of the auditor ; (and 
yet here also there is some virtue) ; there is need-of 
brevity, that the sentence may run, nor impede itself 
with words loading the weary years ; and there is 
need-of discourse** sometimes sad, often jocose, de- 
fendingff the part sometimes of a rhetorician and a 
poet, sometimes of an urbane man, sparing his 
powers, and extenuating them considerately. Ridi- 
cule generally cuts|J great things more-powerfully 
and better than severity. Those men, by which men 
the ancient comedy was written, did stand by this 
thing, in this thing they are to-be- imitated, whom 
neither beautiful§§ Hermogenes|||| ever read, nor that 

* Sat. 4. t In irregular measure. J Lashed. § Wit. 

|| Satire— the fourth of this book. H" Farces. ** A style, 

tt Maintaining, tt Decides. §§ Ironically. |||| Sat. 3. 



194 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

ape*, taught to sing nothing except Calvus and 
Catullusf. 

'* But he did a great thing, because he mixed Greek 
words with Latin words." 

" persons late of studiesj ! how can ye think 
that difficult and wonderful, which befel Rhodian 
Pitholeon§?" 

" But discourse composed of each tongue is sweeter, 
as if the mark|| of Falernian wine has been com- 
mixed with Chiant^me." 

*' When you may make verses, / ask you yourself, 
or, also when the hard cause of the criminal Petillius 
may be to-be-gone-through^I by you, when Pedius 
Puplicola**may exudeff causes, and Corvdnus**, truly 
forgetful of your country and Latin father, would 
you rather-wish to intermix words sought from- 
abroad with your country's words, in the manner of 
the two-tongued Canusinian|J ? But-yet, when I 
made Greek versicles, having been born on-this-side 
the sea§§, Quirinus|||, forbade me with such a 
voice as this, having appeared after mid night, when 

* Servile imitator— of Hermogenes — Demetrius, mentioned at the 
close of this satire. t Amatory poets. 

J Seri studiorum. — Corresponding to oyjnfiaOeis, learned late in 
life, which, opposed to 7rai8ofXa6eis, instructed in youth, is equiva- 
lent to dunces. 

§ A miter of ahsurd epigrams in Greek and Latin phrase. 
|| Quality. Od. II. 3. 1T Pleaded. ** An orator, 

ft Elaborately plead. 
It The inhabitants of Canusium, of Greek extraction, spoke 
bnken Latin. §§ The Ionian sea— in Italy. |||| Od. I. 2. 



THE FIRST BOOK OP SATIRES. 195 

dreams are true : ' You would not carry logs into a 
wood more-insanely, than if you should wish to fill-up 
the great troops of Greeks*.' " 

While turgid f AlpinusJ throttles Memnon§, and 
while he deforms the muddy head of the Rhenusll, i" 
play^I these things**, which neither may soundff in 
the temple X+ vying§§, the judge|||| being Tarpa; nor 
may return again and again to-be-seen in the thea- 
treeff. 

You alone of living men, Fundanius, can prattle 
agreeable little-books*f, an artful harlot eluding, and a 
Davus eluding an old Chremes*J; Pollio sings the deeds 
of Kings, with a foot thrice struck # § ; the spirited 
Varius draws*|| the bold epic, as nobody ; the Muses de- 
lighting in the country have assented to Virgilius*5[ 
the soft and agreeable epic. This kind of writing^* 
it was, which / could write better, than Varro Ata- 
cinus having tried in vain, and some others, less 
than^\f the inventory : nor would I dare to draw-off 
him the crown adhering to his head with much 
praise. 



* To swell the ranks of Greek poets . + Bombastic. % A poet. 

§ Describes the death of Memnon. 
|| Falsely describes — makes the source of the Rhine, which is 
clear, muddy. H" Write. ** Satires. tt Be recited. 

tt Of Apollo. §§ In competition. |||| Critic. 
fIT Represented on the stage. *\ Comedies. *J A comic subject. 
*§ In iambics, of three measures, of two feet each, marked by 
the stroke of the foot. 

*|| Spins, composes. *f, Od. I. 3. 

f * Satire. 1Tt Inferior to. ft Lucilius. 



196 THE FIRST BOOK OF SATIRES. 

But /have said that-he flows muddy*, often bear- 
ing more things indeed to-be-taken-away than things 
to-be-left. Come you, I pray, do you learned repre- 
hend nothing in great Homer ? Does courteousf 
Lucilius change nothing of tragic Accius ? Does he 
not ridicule the verses of Ennius less than gravity,! 
though he speaks of himself, not as greater than 
those reprehended ? What forbids also that-we-our- 
selves reading the writings of Lucilius, should in- 
quire whether his nature, or the hard nature of the 
things shall have denied versicles more made§ and 
going|| more-softly, than if anyone, (content with 
this thing only, to close anything in six feetH), should 
love to have written two-hundred verses before meat, 
and as-many verses having supped ? Such was the 
genius of the Etruscan Cassius more-fervent than a 
rapid river, that- which man there is a report was 
burnt-up by his-own cases and books**. Lucilius may 
have been, I say, courteous and urbane ; he the 
same may have been more-polished, than the author 
of the rude verse and untouchedff by the Greeks^!, 
and than the crowd of senior poets ; but he, if he 
could be brought-down by fate to this our age, might 
rub-off himself many things ; he might rescind every 
thing which might be-drawn beyond perfection; and 

* Full of bad words. t Ironically, 

t As deficient in gravity. § Finished. 

II Flowing. IT Verses of six feet. 

** Whose funeral pile is said to have been constructed of his ovn 
books and their cases. 

tt Unattempted. 1% An allusion to Ennius's Roman Annals. 



THE FIRST BOOK OP SATIRES. 197 

in making a verse often he might scratch his head, 
and gnaw his quick nails. 

Often you should turn the style*, about-to- write 
those things which may be worthy to be-read again ; 
nor labour, that the crowd may admire you : content 
with a few readers. Whether would yo.u foolish 
rather-wish that your verses should be-dictatedf in 
petty schools ? I would not rather-wish it : for it-is 
sufficient, that-a-knightj applauds me, as the auda- 
cious Arbuscula§ having been exploded || said, other 
perso?is being contemned. 

Should the grub Pantiliusf move me? or should 
/be-vexed, because DemetriusU may vilify me ab- 
sent ? or, because inapt Fannius^f the guest of Her- 
mogenes Tigellius^I may hurt me l > 

Let Plotius** and Varius** approve, let Maecenas** 
and Virgilius** approve, let Valgius** approve, and 
let best Octavius** approve these verses, and Fus- 
cus ** ; and would-that each of the Visci** would 
praise these verses ! ambition being relegatedff, /can 
mention you, O PollioJJ, and you, OMessala§§, with 
your brother|j|| ; and at-the-same-time you, Bibulus 
and Servius^ffl; and at-the-same-time with these men 

* An instrument to write in wax with; one end of which was 

sharp, to form the letters, and the other flat, to erase. 

t Read by schoolmasters, while the scholars copy, or get by heart. 

J Maecenas. § An actress. 

•I Hissed. IT An unscrupulous enemy. ** A learned friend . 

tt Dismissed. XX Od. II. l. 

§§ Corvinus— Messala, Sat. 6. ||[| Poplicola. 

1T1T Learned men. 

s3 



198 THE FIRST BOOK OP SATIRES. 

you, O candid Furnius*: I could mention very-many 
other men, whom learned and friends I prudent pass- 
by, to whom / could wish that-these verses, of-what- 
ever-kind they may be, should be-agreeable; about- 
to-grieve, if they should please worse than our hope. 
You, O Demetriusf, and you, O Tigellius+, / com- 
mand to wail among the seats of your female-dis- 
ciple sj. 

Go thou, boy §, and quick subscribe |j these 
verses^ to my little-book. 

* A learned friend. 

t Above. % Contemptuously, § An amanuensis. [| Annex. 

V This satire. 



THE SECOND BOOK 

OF 

THE SATIRES. 



SATIRE L 

HORATIUS AND TREBATIUS. 

Horatius. — There are persons, to whom / seem to 
be too severe in Satire, and to extend the work beyond 
law : another part thinks that-that, whatever I have 
composed, is without nerves*; and that-a-thousand 
verses like my verses could be spun-out in a day. 
Trebatius, what should / do, prescribe you. 

Trebatius. — You should be-quiet. 

Horatius. — That / should notf make, do you say, 
verses at-all ? 

Trebatius. — / do say. 

Horatius. — May / perish badly, if it-were not 
the best thing ; but / am-unable to sleep. 

* Nerveless. t Ne.— That-not. 



200 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

Trebatius. — Thrice, having been anointed*, let 
those swim-across the Tiber, who have need-of deep 
sleep, and have their body irrigated! with wine at 
night. Or, if so-great a love of writing hurries you> 
dare you to celebrate the deeds of invincible Csesarf, 
about-to-bear§ many rewards of your labors. 

Horatius. — O best father, powers desert me desir- 
ous : for neither can anyone|| describe troops hor- 
rentH with javelins, nor the Gauls perishing with 
broken spear**, or the wounds of the Parthian falling 
from his horse. 

Trebatius. — But-yet you could describe him\\ both 
just and brave ; as sapient Lucilius described Sci- 
piasJJ. 

Horatius. — / will not be-wanting to myself, 
when the thing itself will bear§§. The words of 
Flaccus will not go through the attent ear of Caesar, 
unless at a right|||| time ; whom if you should badly 
pat, he kicks-back guarded on-e very-side. 

Trebatius. — By-how-much more-right this thing%% 
is, than to hurt by sad verse Pantolabus the bu fFoon, 
and Nomentanus the spendthrift ! when everyone 
fears for himself, though he is untouched*!, and hates 
you. 
Horatius. — What can / do*J ? Milonius dances, 

* Rubbed with oil. t Moistened. 

J Octavius Caesar, styled Augustus by the senate, 727 U.C. ; but 
often afterwards called by the old name. § About to bear away. 

|| Everyone. If Bristling. **Spear broken in the body. 

tt Caesar. J J Scipio Africanus, the younger. 

§§ Occasion shall offer. ||jj Propitious. ITU To celebrate Ceesar. 

*f Unassailed. *t Every one has his taste. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. £01 

when once* the fervorf has approached his strickenj 
head, and the number has approached the lamps §. 
Castor delights in horses ; he sprung-from the same 
egg|| delights in fists; as many thousand heads^I 
as** live, so-many thousand studies are there. It- 
delights me to close words in feet in the manner of 
Lucilius, better than each of usff- He formerly did 
trust secrets to books as faithful friends ; nor, if it-had- 
gone ill, nor if it-had-gone well, ever recurringJJ else- 
where : wherefore it-happens, that all the life of the 
old-man is-open as-if described§§ on a votive tablet|||. 
/ folio w1T1F him, uncertain, whether lam a Lucanian 
or Apulian: for the Venusinian colonist ploughs upon 
each boundary*f, sent for this thing, (as the ancient 
report is) the Sabelli*| being expelled, that the 
enemy* \ might not run-upon*§ the Roman through 
the vacuum*|| ; or because the Apulian nation, or be- 
cause violent Lucania might incite a war. But this 
style*^ shall not attack voluntarily anyone breathing, 
and shall guard me as a sword covered with a sheath, 
which why should / attempt to draw safe from hos- 
tile robbers ? father, and king Jupiter, would- 
that my weapon laid-aside may perish with rust, nor 

* Ut semel. — For simul ac, as soon as. t Of wine. J Affected. 

§ The lamps have appeared double— the effect of ebriety. 
|| Pollux. 1T Persons. ** Totidem. — As-many-as. 

tt Superior to each of us. tl Having recourse. §§ Depicted. 
|| l| A picture of an event consecrated, by vow, to the Gods. Od. I. 5. 
HIT Imitate. 
*t Venusia, assigned to a new colony, in which the poet was born, 
was partly in Lucania, and partly in Apulia. *J Samnites. 

*§ Make incursion upon. *|| Made by the Samnites being expelled. 
*1T Sat. 1. 10. 



202 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

anyone hurt me desirous of peace ! but he who shall 
have moved* me, (it-is better not to touch me, I 
exclaim), shall weep, and notorious be-chantedf 
through the whole city. 

CerviusJ enraged threatens the laws and urn§; 
Canidia||, to those to whom she is inimical, threatens 
the poison of Albutius^T; Furius** threatens large 
damage, if you should contest anything he being 
judge. That everyone terrifies those suspected, with 
that with which everyone avails, and that powerful 
Nature commands this thing, thus collectft you with- 
me : the wolf attacks with his tooth, the bull at- 
tacks with his horn : whence is this thing unless 
shewn from-within \ \ ? Trust you his vivacious§§ 
mother to Scseva the spendthrift ; his pious right- 
hand will do no wickedness ; (a wonder ! as neither 
the wolf attacks anyone with his heel, nor the ox 
attacks anyone with his tooth); but baneful hem- 
lock with vitiated honey II II will take-off the old- 
woman. 

That / may notHH make a long discourse : whether 
a tranquil old-age awaits me, or Death flies-around 
with black wings ; rich, or poor ; at Rome, or, should 
Fortune so have ordered, an exile; whatever shall 
be the color *t of my life, / will write. 

* Roused. t Be made a song. t A lawyer. 
§ Into which the judges threw their votes, by which the verdict 
was determined — the sentence of the judges. || The witch. 

1T Sat. 2. ** A senator. tt Conclude. 

XX Suggested by instinct. §§ Long-lived. 

Ii || Honey poisoned by the mature of hemlock. 
IT IT Ne.— That-not. *t Condition. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 203 

Trebatius. — youth, / dread, lest you may not* 
be long-lived ; and lest some friend of the greater 
ones may strike you with coldness. 

Horatius. — What? when Lucilius dared first to 
compose verses after this manner of workf, and to 
withdraw the skinj, in which everyone went sleek 
before faces§, but inwardly foul ; whether were 
LseliusH, and he who derived a merited name from 
oppressed Carthage ^[, offended by his genius ? or 
grieved they Metellus # * being hurtft, and LupusJJ 
being covered-over§§ with defamatory verses ? But* 
yet he arraigned the nobles of the people, and 
the people tribe-by-tribe ; truly favourable to virtue 
alone and the friends of her. Yet when the virtue 
of Seipias|][|, and the mild sapience of Leelius^lH, had 
removed themselves from the vulgar, and the scene, 
into secret places* f ; thep were used to trifle with 
him*J, and ungirt*§ to play, until their vegetable 
was boiled-down*||. Whatever I am, though be- 
neath the rank and genius of Lucilius, yet envy 
even unwilling will confess*^" that-I have lived 
with great persons, and, seeking to strike her tooth 



* Ut— After a verb of fearing, resolved by tie non, lest not. 
t Like mine. J Mask. § In public view. || Scipio's friend. 

1T Scipio Africanus. ** Scipio's opponent. ++ Satirized. 

Jt A consul. §§ As with mud. |||| Virtuous Scipio. 

1T1T Sapient Laslius. 

*t Withdrawn from the crowd, and public life, into retirement. 

*t Luciius. *§ In negligent attire, divested of care. 

* || Their plain supper was ready. 

*tf In spite of herself must acknowledge. 



204 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

upon* a fragile place, shall dash-against a solidf ; 
unless you, O learned Trebatius, anything dissent. 

Trebatius. — Indeed / can decide nothing hence ; 
but yet, that having been monished you may be- 
cautious, lest haply ignorance of the sacred laws 
should incite ;£ any trouble § for you : if anyone shall 
have composed bad verses against anyone, there is 
right and judgment. 

Horatius. — Be-it, if anyone shall have composed 
bad verses : but if anyone shall have composed good 
verses having been praised the judge being Caesar ||? 
if anyone shall have barked-at one worthy-of re- 
proaches, himself uncorrupt ? 

Trebatius. — The tablets^]" will be dissolved** with 
laughter ; you dismissed will departff. 

* Illidere. — Strike-upon. 
t An allusion to JEsop's fable of the File and Serpent. 
X Excite. 
§ Negoti.— Corresponding to 7rpay/i.a, often used in the same 
sense. || Cassar Augustus. See above. 

IT With the judges' votes. 
** Broken up, instead of being thrown into the urn, (see above), 
— there will be an acquittal by acclamation. ft From court. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 205 



SATIRE II. 

FRUGALITY. 

What virtue, and how-great the virtue, O good 
persons, may be to live on a little, (nor is this my 
discourse, but the words which rustic Ofellus has 
inculcated, a sapient maw without-rules, and of a coarse 
Minerva*,) learn ye, not among dishes and shining 
tables, when the eye is-stupified by insane^ splen- 
dors, and when the mind inclined to falsehoods 
refuses better things; but here not-dined^; discuss 
with-me. 

" Why do you say this thing?" 

" / will tell, if I shall be-able. Every corrupt 
judge badly examines the truth. Having followed 
a hare, or having been wearied by an indomitable 
horse, or, if the Roman exercise fatigues you accus- 
tomed to grecise§, (whether the swift ball, the pur- 
suit softly beguiling the austere labor, or the quoit 
takes you, strike you the yielding air with the 
quoit), when labor shall have expelled fastidious- 
nesses, dry|| and emptyU, spurn you common food; 
and you should not** have drunkft except Hymettian 
honies diluted with Falernian wine. Your butler 
is abroad, and the black sea defending the fishes 

* By metonomy for education. t Maddening. % Fasting. 

§ Imitate the Greeks — practise their exercises. || Thirsty. 

IT Hungry. ** Ne. — And-not. tt And do not drink 

T 



206 THE SECOND BOOK OE SATIRES. 

is-stormy ; bread with salt well will alleviate your 
barking* stomach. Whence do you think, or how 
that-this tiling^ has been begot ? The chief pleasure 
is not in the costly odorj, but is in you yourself. Do 
you seek sauces by sweating ; neither oysters, nor 
scar§, or the foreign lagoisjj, will be-able to delight 
the man fat and pale from viceslf. 

" Scarcely however could /extort, a peacock being 
served, that you would not ** wish with this thing 
rather, than a hen, to wipe your palate+f , corrupted, 
by vain things** ; because the rare bird, is sold for 
gold, and opens spectacles with its painted tail : as-if 
that should pertain anything to the purpose. Whether 
do you eat that plumage, which you praise ? whether 
is the same honor§§ present|| j| to the bird cooked ? yet, 
though it-differs nothing, you eat this flesh rather 
than ihatjlesh ! It-is-plain that-you are deceived by 
the different forms. 

" Be-it mi '• Whence given *f do you perceive it, 
whether this pike gapes a Tiberine one, or caught in 
the deep ? whether tossed*}; between the bridges, or 
at the mouths of the Tuscan river*§ ? You praise, O 
insane man, a three-pound mullet, which it-is neces- 
sary that you should minish into several dishes. 

* Craving, 
t This power of bread and salt to alleviate your craving stomach. 
J Savor. § Ep. 3. || A fish, or, bird, like hare in its flesh. 

IT Excesses. ** Quin. — That-not. ft To eat this rather than a hen. 

It Vanis rerum. — For vanis rebus. §§ Beaut}-. 

[Ill Adest. — Is-present. 1TF As you say. *t By what gift. 

*J Ashore. *§ The Tiber. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP SATIRES. 207 

Appearance leads you, 1 see ; whither pertains-it* 
therefore that-you hate long pikes ? Because truly 
nature has given a greater measure to the latter, and 
a short weight to the former. 

"The rarely hungry stomach contemns vulgar 
things. * / could wish to behold a great mullet ex- 
tended on a great dish/ says a gulletf worthy-of 
the rapacious Harpy iee£. But do ye present §, O 
Austri ||, cook Tf the victuals of these persons ! 
Though the boar and fresh turbot is-putrid**, when 
a badff abundance solicits the sick stomach ; since 
full it prefers little-rapes and acid elecampanes. 

Nor-yet has all poverty^ been driven-away from 
the banquets of kings ; for for common eggs and black 
olives at-this-day there is a place. Not so long-ago 
the table of Gallonius the preeco§§ was infamous|||| 
by a sturgeon. What? then did the seas nourish 
turbots less^HI ? The turbot was safe, and the stork in 
a safe nest; until the praetorian author*f taught you. 
Therefore, if anyone now should have declared that- 
roasted divers*! are sweet, the Roman youth docile- 
in depravity will obey, 

" Sordid living will differ from simple living, 
Ofellus*§ being judge ; for in-vain you will have 

* To what intent is it t Glutton. t Harpies. 

§ Being present. || Od. II. 14. IT Taint. ** Seems tainted, 

ft Too great. tt All food usually eaten by the poor. 
§§ Sat. T. 6. IHI Disgraced. If^T In a less degree. 

*t Asinius Semphronius Rufus, who stood for praetor, introduced 
stork?. *$ Ep. 9. *§ Above. 



208 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

avoided that vice*, if you shall have turned-away 
yourself depraved to the other vice-f. Avidienus, to 
whom the surname Dog, derived from the truth^, 
adheres, eats five-years olives and woodland cornels, 
and spares to pour-off his wine, unless changed ; and, 
(though he may celebrate wedding-days§, and birth- 
days, or other festive days, clothed-in-white,) he him- 
self from a horn of-two-pounds drops-upon his cab- 
bages oil, the smell of which oil you would be-unable 
to endure, not sparing of his old vinegar." 

" What-sort-of living therefore shall the wise man 
use, and which of these persons shall he imitate ? 
On this side the wolf urges, on that side the dog 
presses ||." 

" He will be neat^I, who would not offend by sor- 
didnesses ; and as-to neither part** of conduct would 
be miserable. This man neither, after the example 
of old Albutius, while he distributes their offices to 
his slaves, will be severe ; nor, as simple Neevius, 
afford greasy water to his guests : this also is a great 
viceff. 

"Accept \X you now, what and how-great things a 
simple living may bring-along with-itself. In the 
first places you may be well in health§§: for, that 
various things hurt a man, you may credit, mindful 
of that food, which simple formerly may have sat 

* Prodigality. + Sordidness. t His nature. 

§ Strictly, after-banquets, after wedding-days, from re, again, 
and poto, to drink. 

UII The glutton is like a wolf, the miser like a dog. IT Decent. 

** Extreme. ft Fault. U Hear. §§ Valeas.— Be-in-health. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 209 

for you* ; but as-soon-as you shall have mixed boiled 
things with roasted things, as-soon-as you shall have 
mixed shell-fishes with thrushes ; the sweet things 
will turn themselves into bile, and the tough phlegm 
will bring a tumult to the stomach. Do you see, how 
pallid every one rises-from a dubiousf supper ? More- 
over the body loaded by yesterday's vicesj weighs- 
down the mind also at-the-same-time, and affixes to 
the ground§ a particle of the divine spirit ||. 

" The other man*, when he has given his limbs, 
more-quickly than a word taken-care-of %, to sleep, 
rises vigorous to his prescribed duties. This man 
however will be-able to run-over** to something 
better sometimes ; whether the returning year shall 
have brought-along a festive day; or he shall wish to 
recreate his attenuated body ; or when years shall 
advance, and imbecile age shall wish to be-treated 
more-softlytf. For you what shall be-added to that 
softnessJJ, which a boy and healthy you anticipate, 
whether bad health shall have befallen you, or tardy 
old-age ? 

''The ancients did praise a rancid boar ; not because 
they had no nose ; but, / believe§§, with this inten- 
tion, that a guest arriving too-lately might consume 

* Sat well upon your stomach. + Perplexing. % Excesses. 

§ Sinks to the earth. 

|| Divines particulam aurce. — The soul — according to Plato, a 

particle of the Anima Mundi, Soul of the World, or, Deity. 

§ The temperate man. 1T Refreshed by a hasty meal. 

** To have recourse. tt More tenderly. %% Delicacy. 

§§ Ironically. 



210 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

it vitiated* more-conveniently, than the edacious 
master could consume it fresh. I-wish the primitive 
Earth had borne me born among these heroesf ! 

" Do you give anything* to fame, which more- 
agreeable than verse occupies § the human ear ? 
Great turbots and dishes bring together with loss 
great disgrace. Add you an enraged uncle, and 
neighbours, and yourself discontented-with yourself, 
and in-vain desirous of death, when an as||, the price 
of a nooselT, will be-wanting to you needy. 

"With right," he says, "Trausius is-chidden in 
those words : I have great revenues, and riches am- 
ple for three Kings." 

"Therefore, is there not a way, in which you may 
better consume what is-over ? Why does anyone 
unworthy** want, you being rich ? wherefore do the 
ancient temples of the Gods fall % why, O impious 
man, do you not mete-out something to your dear 
country from so-great a heap ? Undoubtedly things 
always will be rightly for you alonef ! you about- 
to-be a great laughtei hereafter to your enemies ! 

Which on dubious cases will trust to himself more- 
certainly ? this man, who shall have accustomed his 
mind and fastidious body to more things%% ? or he 
who, content with a little and fearful of the future, 
in peace, as a wise man, shall have prepared the 
things serviceable for war ? 

* Tainted. t Ironically. % Do you pay any regard. 

§ Engages. || Sat. I. 1. 1T To hang yourself. 

** Undeserving of it. tf Superfluities. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 211 

" That the more you may credit these things, I 
a little boy knew that-this Ofellus did not more- 
widely use his entire riches, than now they being 
cut-down. You may see in his measured little-field* 
with his cattle and sons the brave cultivator for hire 
narrating, "I have not lightly eaten on a common 
day anything except vegetable, with a hock of smoked 
ham; and whether after a long time a friend had 
come, or a neighbour an agreeable guest, to me free- 
from works on-account-of the rain, it-was wellf, not 
with fishes fetched from the city, but with a pullet 
and a kid : then a pensilej grape and a nut, with a 
double§ fig, ornamented the second tablesjj. After 
this the play was to drink, excess being mistressll ; 
and Ceres having been venerated**^ so-that sheff 
might rise with high stem, unfolded}::}: with wine the 
serious thi?igs§§ of the contracted brow. Let Fortune 
rage, and move new tumults: how-much will she 
diminish hence? bv-how-much more-sparingly have 
either I, or ye, O boys, fared, since the new occupant 
came hither? for nature has appointed master of 
his-own land neither him, nor me, nor anyone : he 
has expelled us; him either iniquity, or ignorance 
of the subtle law, or lastly a longer-lived heir cer- 
tainly will expel. The field now under the name of 
Umbrenus, lately called under the name of Ofellus, 

* Sat. I. 6. t We lived well. 

X Hung, dried. § Doubled. 

II Second course. IT Without any restraint, save excess. 

** WLh a libation, ft The corn. U Smoothed. §§ Wrinkles. 



212 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

will be proper to no man ; but cede into use, now to 
me, now to another. 

" Wherefore, live ye brave; and oppose brave 
breasts to adverse things." 



SATIRE III. 

DAMASIPPUS AND HORATIUS. 

Damasippus. — So rarely you write, that in the whole 
year not four-times you call-for membrane,* un- 
weavingf each of your writings, enraged-at your- 
self, because indulging-in wine and sleep you can 
sing nothing worthy-of discourse. What will be- 
done ? But you have fled hither at the very Satur- 
nalia J! Sober therefore dictate you something wor- 
thy-of your promises : begin you ; there is nothing! 
The reeds§ are-blamed in-vain, and the undeserv- 
ing|| wall labours^ born** Gods and poets being en- 
ragedff. But-yet your countenance was that of one 
threatening|J many and excellent things if your lit- 
tle-villa had received you unoccupied under its tepid§§ 
roof. To-what-end has-it-pertained to stow||| Platolffl 
with Menander^ffi? and to lead-out*f Eupolis^If , and 
Archilochus^H so-great companions? Do z/owprepare 

* Parchment. t Like Penelope,— not finishing. 

% Commemorations of the Golden Age under Saturn, kept in De- 
cember, with much freedom and intemperance. § Pens. 
|| Od. I. 17. % Is belaboured. ** Built. 
•H Under displeasure of gods and poets. J J Promising. 
§§Warm. l\\ Pack up. H1T The writings of. 
*f Bring abroa 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 213 

to appease envy* virtuef being relinquished ? You 
will be-contemned, miserable man : the impious 
Siren is to-be-avoided, Sloth ; or, whatever you have 
acquired by a better life, is to-be-put-away J with 
even§ mind. 

Horatius. — May the Gods, Damasippus, and the 
Goddesses, for your true counsel present you with 
a barber !|| but whence so well have you known me ? 

Damasippus. — After-that all my property was 
wrecked at middle Janus^[, / care-for others' busi- 
nesses, ejected from my-own businesses : for for- 
merly/did love to inquire, in what brass** that 
crafty Sisyphus had laved his feet, what had been 
sculptured unskillfully, what had been fused ff 
too-harshly : for this statue / knowing did set 
a hundred thousand sesterces\l : / alone had known- 
how to purchase gardens and excellent houses with 
gain ; whence the frequented cross-roads§§ have put- 
upon me the surname of Mercury ||||. 

Horatius. — / know, and wonder that-you were 
purged of that disease. 

Damasippus. — But-yet a new diseased wonder- 
fully removed the old one, as it-is-usual, the pain <?f 

* Excited by your satires. 

t Which prompted you to write. % Relinquished. § Patient 

11 In ridicule of the Stoic's heard. 

IT A part of the forum, so named from the temple of Janus, and 

divided into summits, highest, medius, middle, and imus, lowest. 

The medius was frequented by money- dealers. ** Vase. 

ft Cast. tt As the price. Sat. I. 3. 

§§ Public places where auctions were held. 

Hll The presiding deity of commerce. Iff Stoicism. 



214 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

the miserable side and head being transferred into 
the heart; as this lethargic patient, when he be- 
comes a pugilist, and urges* his physician. 

Horatius. — So-that not anything similar happens 
to this manf, be-it as it-pleases. 

Damasippus. — good man, do not you frustrate^ 
yourself; both you are-insane, and nearly all men 
are fools, if Stertinius§ says any truth ; whence|| I 
docile wrote-down these wonderful precepts, at the 
time at which having solaced me he ordered that-I 
should feed a sapient beard^I, and return not sor- 
rowful from the Fabrician bridge**. For my business 
being badly managed, when / wished to cast my- 
self with covered head into the river, he stood on- 
the-right-hand, and said, " Take-care you lest you 
should do anything unworthy-of yourself : false 
shame," says he, " presses you, who among insane 
persons fear to be-held insane. For firstly, / will 
inquire, what it-may-be to be-mad ; if this thing 
shall be in you alone, / will add no word, why you 
should notff perish bravely." 

"Him whom bad folly and whomsoever ignorance 
of truth leads blind, the portico \\ and flock §§ of 

* Attacks. t Pointing to himself. % Deceive. 

§ A stoic philosopher. || From whom. 

% Become a Stoic, and let my beard grow at length. 
** A bridge, on the Tiber, built by the consul Fabricius, to which 
Damasippus went to cast himself into the river. 
+ t Quin. — Why not. 
tt Portions.— The crToa, portico, or, school, where the Stoics 
taught, and from which they received their name. §§ Sect. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 215 

Chrysippus* estimates insane. This formula + contains 
peoples, this formulaf contains great Kings, the 
wise man being excepted. Now accept J you, why 
all persons are-insane, equally as yourself, who 
have given to you the name of insane man. 

"As in woods, where error drives persons wander- 
ing here-and-there from the certain path, that per- 
son will /70-off on-the-left-hand, this person will go- 
off on-the-right-hand ; one error, but in various 
parts, illudes each: in this manner believe you that- 
you are insane, so-that he, who derides you, trails 
his tail by nothing wiser§. 

"There is one kind of folly, of a man fearing things 
nothing to-be-dreaded ; so-that he complains that- 
iires, so-that he complains that- rocks, and floods 
withstand in the plain: another kind, and different- 
from this, and by nothing wiser, is of a man rushing 
through the midst-of fires and floods : let the loving 
mother exclaim, let the virtuous sister exclaim, with 
the relations, let the father exclaim, let the wife ex- 
claim : \ Here is a vast fosse ! here is a very-great 
cliff! observe you . n No more he will have heard, 
than inebriated Fufius formerly, when he slept-out 
Iliona||, one thousand two-hundred Catieni^I exclaim- 
ing, ' O mother, / appeal to you '.' I will teach that- 
the- whole vulgar are-insane similar to this error. 

* Sat. I. 3. t Definition. J Hear. 
§ A metaphor, from children tying a tail to those they made a 
jest of. || The part of Iliona. 

IT The whole theatre, as if each a Catienus, who acted the part of 
Polydore, and had called without waking him. 



216 TPE SECOND BOOK OF SATlliES. 

" Damasippus is-insane in buying old statues. Is 
the creditor of Damasippus entire-in mind ? Be-it. 
Accept you, that which never you can restore to me, 
if / should say to you, will you be insane, if you 
shall have accepted ? or rather senseless, the prey 
being rejected, which propitious Mercury brings* ? 
Write you ten tablets^ of NeriusJ : it-is not suffi- 
cient ; add yew a hundred tablets! of knotty§ Cicuta||; 
add you a thousand chainsf : yet the wicked Pro- 
teus^! will escape these bonds. When you shall 
hurry into court him laughing with cheeks not-his- 
own**, he will become a boar, sometimes he will 
become a bird, sometimes he will become a stone, and 
when he shall wish a treeff. If badly to manage a 
business, is-the-part of an insane man ; if on-the-con- 
trary to manage it well, is-the-part of a sane man ; 
the brain of Perillius|| is by-much more-addled, (be- 
lieve you me,) dictating that§§, which you never can 
unwrite |||. 

"i^}^[ command him to hear, and compose his toga*f , 
whoever is-pale with evil ambition, or love of silver, 
whoever is-heated with luxury, or sad superstition, 
or other disease of the mind ; hither do ye in 
order come nearer to -*} me, while / teach that-all 
are-insane. 

* As messenger of the Gods, t Bonds. J A banker. § Subtie. 

}| A money-scrivener. IT Proteus-like debtor. 

** Immoderately. ft Allusions to the changes of Proteus. 

JI Perillius Cicuta, the Cicuta above. §§ The bond. 

I! || Cancel, having repaid the loan. ff Stertinius. 

*t For attention. *J Adite.— Come-to. 



THE SECOND LOOK OF SATIRES. 217 

By-much the greatest part of hellebore* is to-be- 
given to avaricious persons : I know-not whether 
reason may destine all Anticyra t for them. The 
heirs of Staberius cat the sum he left onj his sepul- 
chre : unless so they hud done, they toere bound to 
give a hundred pairs of gladiators to the people, 
and a banquet, at the discretion of Arrius §, and as 
much corn as|| Africa mows. 

"Whether I wrongly, or rightly, have willed this 
thing, you should not bt^J an uncle** to me." 

/ think that-the-prudent mind of Staberius saw 
this thing. 

Damasippus. — What therefore meant he, when he 
willed that his heirs should grave the sum of his 
patrimony onff his stone Jt ? 

Stertinius. — As-long-as he lived, he thought that- 
poverty ivas a great vice, and avoided nothing more- 
strenuously ; so-that, if haply he had perished less 
wealthy by one farthing, he might seem§§ more- 
iniquitous to himself: for every thing, virtue, fame, 
honor, divine and human thi?igs, obey fair riches ; 
which whoever shall have heaped-together, he shall 
be illustrious, and brave, adjust. 

Damasippus. — Shall he be wise ? 

Stertinius. — Yes 1 and a king, and whatever he 
shall wish. He hoped that-this thi?ig\\\\, as-if acquired 

* As a remedy for insanity. + Abounding in hellebore. 

I Incidere. — Cut-on. § A prodigal. || Quantum. — As-much-as, 
11 Do not you be. ** Like an uncle. Sat. 2. Od. III. 12. 
ft Insculpere.— Grave-on. J J Tomb-stone. 

§§ Would have seemed. |||| These riches. 

U 



218 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

by virtue, would be for great praise*. What simi- 
lar to this thing did the Grecian Aristippusf, who 
ordered his slaves to throw-away his gold in the 
raiddle-of Libya, because they went too-tardily, slow 
on-account-of the weight 1 Which is more-insane of 
these men ? 

Damasippus. — An example does|, nothing, which 
resolves a strife by a strife §. 

Stertinius. — If anyone should buy harps, and hav- 
ing been bought carry them together|| into one place, 
having been given^[ neither to the study of the 
harp, nor to any Muse** ; if anyone not a shoemaker 
should buy knives and formsff ? */ anyone averse 
from merchandizes should buy nautical sails: on-all- 
sides he would be-called delirious and senseless de- 
servedly. How differs he from those persons, who 
hoards-up monies and gold, unknowing-how to use 
them having been put-together, and dreading to 
touch them as-if a sacred-thing ? If anyone always 
stretched-out at a great heap of corn should watch 
with a long club ; nor the hungering master dare to 
touch a grain thence, and rather sparing eat bitter 
leaves : if, a thousand casks of Chian and old Faler- 
nian wine being laid within|J, — it-is nothing, three 
hundred thousand casks being laid uithin\\, — he 
should drink sharp vinegar : come you, if also he should 

* Greatly to his praise. 

t How dissimilar was the couduct of the Grecian Axistippus. 

% Effects. § By raising a strife. || Comportet. — Carry-together. 

S Devoted. ** Musical accomplishment. ft Lasts. 

XX Laid up within — in his wine-stores. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 219 

lie-upon straws, having been born one-from-eighty* 
years, for whom bed clothing, banquets of moths 
and grubs, putrifies in a chest: undoubtedly lie 
would seem insane to few perso?is, on-this-account 
because the greatest part of men is-tossedf by the 
same disease. 

O old-man inimical to the Gods, whether do you 
guard, that your son, or even that a freedman your 
heir, should drink-up these things, or lest there 
should be-wanting to yourself J? For how-much§ 
of the sum each of the days will abridge, if you 
should begin to dress your cabbages with better oil, 
and your head filthy with uncombed scurf? Where- 
fore, if anything is sufficient, do you forswear, where- 
fore do you steal, and take-away from-all sides ? are 
you sane ? 

If you\\ should begin to pelt the people with stones, 
or the slaves, whom you may have procured with 
your brass^T, all the boys and girls would exclaim 
that-you are insane : when you despatch your wife with 
a noose, and your mother with poison, are you of 
sound head ? For why-not ? Neither do you do this 
thing at Argos**, nor with the swordff, as senseless 
Orestes slew his mother. Or do you think that-he 
became-insane his parent being slain, and that-he 
was not driven senseless by the evil Furies, before 
that he made-tepid the acute sword in the throat of 



Seventy-nine. t Is affected. J You should want yourself. 

Diminutively— how-little. || Addressing. IT Money. 

* Where it might be tolerated. ft In the heat of revenge. 



220 THE SECOND BOOK OP SATIRES. 

his mother? Yea from the time at which Orestes 
was held of a scarcely safe mind, surely he did no- 
thing, which you can reprehend ; he dared* not to 
violate Pylades with the sword or his sister Electia : 
only he speaks-ill-of each, by calling her a Fury* 
and him something else, which splendid bilef com" 
mandedf. 

Opimius poor-in silver laid within§ and gold, who 
icas used to drink Veientine icine\\ on festive days 
from a Campanian vessel^, and vapid-wine on com- 
mon days, once was oppressed by a great lethargy, so- 
ihathis heir now ran about the coffers and keys joyful 
and triumphing. Him a physician very quick and 
faithful excites in this manner : he orders that-a-table 
be-set, and that-the- sacks of monies be-poured-out: 
and that-many persons should approach to number**: 
thus he erects the man : and adds this thing : " Un- 
less you guard your things, your greedy heir now 
will carry-oif these things." 

Opimius. — I being alive will he carry them of" 1 . 

Physician. — That you may live therefore, watch 
you: do you this thing. 

Opimius. — What will you ? 

Physician. — Four veins will desert you helpless, 
unless food and a great support is-added to your sink- 
ing stomach. Do you hesitate ? Come-now, take 
you this ptisan of rice. 

* Ausus. — Understand est. 
t Clear bile, i. e. furious, in opposition to black bile — producing 
melancholy, J Suggested. § Laid up within — in his coffers . 

II An inferior wine. *H Earthen ware. ** Count. 



THE SKCOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 221 

Opimius. — At how-mucli bought ? 

Physician. — At little. 

Opimius. — At how-much then ? 

Physician. — At-eight-asses*. 

Opimius. — Alas ! what imports-it, whether by dis- 
ease, or thefts, or rapines, I may perish ? 

Damasippus. — Who therefore is sane ? 

Stertinius. — He who is not a fool. 

Damasippus. — What is the avaricious man ? 

Stertinius. — He is foolish and insane. 

Damasippus. — What ! if anyone is not avaricious, 
is he consequently sane ? 

Stertinius. — Leastf. 

Damasippus. — Why, stoic? 

Stertinius. — I will tell. This sick man, (suppose 
you that-Craterus* has said it) is not cardiacal§. Is 
he rightly therefore, and shall he rise ? He w r ill 
deny it ; because his side or reins may be-tried by 
an acute disease. He is not perjured, nor sordid : 
let this man immolate a porker to the propitious 
Lares||. But he is ambitious and audacious : let 
this man sail to Anticyra^f : for what differs-it, whe- 
ther you bestow whatever you have in an abyss, or 
never use the things acquired ? 

Servius Oppidius, rich in ancient account, is-re- 
ported to have divided two farms at Canusium, to 
his two sons, and dying to have said these words 

* Sat. I. 1. f By no means. $ A physician. § Sick at heart 

If For hellebore, the remedy of insanity— he is insane. See above. 

Ii Od. III. 23. 

u 3 



222 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

to the boys called to his bed : -'After-that, O Aulus, 
/ saw that-you carried dice, arid nuts, in a lax 
sinus, and gave and played ; after-that I saw that- 
you, Tiberias, numbered them f, and gloomy con- 
cealed them in caves*: I greatly-feared, lest a dif- 
ferent insanity should actuate you: lest you should 
follow Nomentanus§, lest you should follow Cicuta||. 
"Wherefore each having been entreated by the gods 
the penates^", do you take-care, lest you minish ; do 
you take-care, lest you make that greater, which 
your father thinks to be sufficient, and nature co- 
erces. Besides, lest glory should tickle** you, by an 
oath I will oblige both : whichever of you shall 
be an aedilejf, or preetortt, let him be detestable§§ 
and cursed. Would you dissipate your goods in 
vetch!',!!, and beani:!!, and lupines||jj, that at-large you may 
walk-about in the circus^^I, and that you may stand 
in-bras3*f , stript-of fields, and stript, insane man, 
of*J paternal monies ? Forsooth*^, that you may bear*|j 
the applauses, vvhich Agrippa*5l bears*|| a crafty fox 
imitating an ingenuous lion ? 

Atridesf*, why do you forbid, lest anyone should 
wish to have interred Ajax? 

* Fold of th€ t Counted. % Holes. § Sat. I. 1. 

i! A miser. See above. r Od. II. 4. ** Seduce. 

ft Superintendent of public buildings, a chief magistrate. 
Jt Sat. I. 5. §§ Incapable of attesting — degraded. 

|| i| Formerly thrown to the populace by candidates for the above 
offices of honor. ^ r Sat. I. 6. *f In a statue of brass. 

*i Nudus.—Stxi?t-oI. -§ ironically. *|| Obtain. *% Od. I. 6. 
t* Stertinus, turning to the madness of Agamemnon, addresses 
kiin, as if present. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 223 

/Vgamemnon. — /am a king.* 

Stertinius. — / plebeian seek nothing farther.f 

Agamemnon. — And I command an equal J thing ; 
bat, if to anyone / seem not just, I permit htm 
unpunished § to say what he feels ||. 

Stertinius. — greatest of kings, may the Gods 
grant to you to bring-back your fleet Troy being 
captured ! Then^f will-it-be-permitted to consult**, 
and then respond** ? 

Agamemnon. — Consult you. 

Stertinius. — Why does Ajax, a hero second from 
Achilles putrefy ft, illustrious, the AchiviJ % being so- 
often preserved? That the people of Priamus§§ may 
rejoice and Priamus§§ he being uninterred, by whom 
so-many youths have lacked their country's sepul- 
chre ? 

Agamemnon. — The insane man gave to death a 
thousand sheep, exclaiming that-he slew celebrated 
Ulysses andMenelaus together with me. 

Stertinius. — When you instead-of a heifer set 
your sweet daughter before the altars at Aulis, and 
sprinkle her head with the salt cake|||, O impious man, 
do you preserve rectitude^ of mind ? 

Agamemnon. — To-what-end was I insane ? 

* And, therefore, irresponsible, t Have no right to inquire farther. 

I Just. § With impunity. || Thinks. 

IT In consequence of your permission. 

** A term of lawyers. tt Rot— i. e. the unburied body. 

ttOd. III. 3. §§ Od. I. 10. 

il|| Of barley, crumbled on the head of the victim thus consecrated 

for the altar. 1TTT Sanity. 



224 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

Stertinius. — For what did Ajax, when he strewed 
with his sword the herd? He withheld violence from 
his wife and son, having prayed many evils for the 
Atridae. He violated not either Teucer, or Ulysses 
himself. 

Agamemnon. — But I, that / might rescue my 
ships adhering on an adverse shore, prudent appeased 
with blood the Gods. 

Stertinius.— Namely with your blood, furious*m«w. 

Agamemnon. — With my blood, but / am not 
furious*. 

Stertinius. — He who shall catch other f forms 
of truth and wickedness, commixed with tumult, 
will be-held deranged; and, whether he should err 
from folly, or anger, nothing will-it-differ. 

Ajax, when he slew the undeserving X lambs, is- 
insane ; when you prudent § admit an impiety for 
empty titles, do you stand in your mind ? and have 
you a heart pure from vice, when it is tumid||. 

If anyone should love to carry in a litter a sleek 
ewe-lamb, if he should provide for it a vestment, as 
for a daughter, if he should provide female-servants, if 
he should provide gold, and address it Pupa^f and 
Pupilla**, and destine it a wife for a brave husband ; 
by an interdictf f thePreetor|| would take-from him all 
right, and the tutelage of him would go-away §§ 
to sane relatives. What! if anyone devotes his 

* Mad. t Strange. 

| Undeserving of harm, innocent. § Deliberately. 

|| Swollen with ambition. IT Girl. ** Little-girl. 

ft Injunction. JJ Sat. I. 5. §g Devolve. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP SATIRES 225 

daughter instead-of a mute ewe-lamb, is he entire of 
mind ? you should not have said* it. Therefore, 
where depraved folly is, here is the highest insanity: 
he who is wicked, also will be furiousf; whom vi- 
treous fame has captivated, him Bellona rejoicing in 
bloody things has thundered-aroundj. 

Now come you, arraign you with-me luxury and 
Nomentanusf. For reason evinces that-foolish spend- 
thrifts are-insane. This man as-scon-as he has re- 
ceived a thousand talents of patrimony, issues-an- 
edict§, that the fisherman, that the fruiterer, that the 
bird-catcher, that the dealer-in-unguents, and the 
impious crowd of the Tuscan street|], that the 
fattened with the buffoons, that all the market 
with Yelabrum** should come in-the-morning to his 
house. What then? They came frequentff . The 
pandert;j; makes words§§: "Whatever I have, and 
whatever anyone of these persons has at home, be- 
lieve you that-that is yours; and either now demand 
you it, or to-morrow." Accept ||| you what on-the- 
contrary the moderate youth responded : " Fo«^^[ 
sleep greaved in Lucanian snow, that I may sup- 
on a boar ; youf* sweep the fishes from the wintry 
sea : I am sluggish, and unworthy, who should pos- 

* Do not you say. t See above. J Maddened. 

§ Issues an order. || A street in Rome in which the Tusci settled. 

IT Of fowls — a poulterer. 

** A part of Rome, so called from velum a sail, because formerly 

sailed across, where sellers of olives and cheesemongers lived. 

ft In crowds. %% One from the Tuscan street. §§ A speech. 

Illl Hear. 1T1T A huntsman. t* The fisherman. 



226 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

sess so-much : carry-off you ! take you * for yourself 
ten-times a hundred sestertiaX ; take you% for your- 
self just-as-much; take you § for yourself triple the 
sum. 

The sou of JEsopus||, (forsooth that he might ab- 
sorb*^ ten-times a hundred sestertiaf solidly**) dis- 
solved in vinegar, a remarkable+f pearl withdrawn 
from the ear of MetellaJJ ; how is he more- sane, than 
if he should cast that same sum into a rapid river, or 
a sewer ? 

The progeny of Quintus Arrius, a noble pair of 
brothers, twin in naughtiness and trifles, and love of 
depravities, were accustomed to dine-on nightingales 
bought-up at an expensive price. Whitherward 
should they go-away §§ ? Are they as sane to-be- 
noted with chalk, or with coal jjj| ? 

If it-should-delight any bearded person%%, to build 
cottages*!, and to adjoin*J mice to a little-waggon, 
and play even and odd*§, and ride on a long reed, 
senselessness*|| would turn*^[ him. If reason shall 
evince that-it-is more-puerile than these things to 
love, nor that it anything differsf*, whether in the 
dustj* you play the workf§, such-as before when 

* The huntsman, t Sat. I. 3. X The fisherman. § The pander. 

|| jEsop, the tragedian. IT Swallow up. ** In the lump. 

it Beautiful. XX His mistress. 

§§ To what class should they he referred. 

HII Acquitted, or, condemned. 

1I1T Any one beyond the age of childhood. *t Baby-cottages. 

*t Yoke. *S A Game. *|| Insanity. *U Actuate. 
t* Differrc— That-it-differs. J* Sand. t§ Game. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 227 

three-years-old, or weep solicitous with the love of a 
harlot : i" inquire, whether you would do what for- 
merly changed* Polemon did ? Would you put- 
aside the ensigns of the disease, the small-bandages, 
the cushion-for-the-elbow, the neck-cloths, as he 
drunk is-said stealthily to have plucked the crownsf 
from his neck, after-that he was corrected by the 
voice of his fasting J master§ ? 

When you extend apples to an enraged boy, he 
refuses: "Take you them, O Little-dog!" he denies; 
if you do not give them, he wishes-for them. How 
does the excluded lover differ, when he treats|| with- 
himself, whether he should go, or not, whither he was 
about-to-return not invited, and adheres to the hated 
doors ? " Shall / not now, when she calls me volun- 
tarily, approach? or rather should / meditate to 
finish my griefs ? She has excluded me, she recalls 
me : should / return ? not, if she should beseech me." 
Behold a slave, not a little wiser ;"0 master, a thing 
which has neither measure, nor counsel, wills not to 
be-treated with reason and measure : in love these 
are the evils; war, and peace again; these things 
nearly in the manner of a tempest moveable, and 
floating by blind lot, if anyone should labour to ren- 
der certain for himself, by nothing more would he 
explicate them, than if he should prepare to be-insane 
by certain reason and measure." 

What ! when plucking-out the seeds from Picenian 

* Reformed. t Convivial chaplets. J Sober. 

§ Xenocrates, the philosopher. || Argues. 



228 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

apples, you rejoice, if you have struck the ceiling by- 
chance*, are you in-the-power-of yourself f? What ! 
when you strike \ stammering words with your aged 
palate §, how are you more -sane than he building 
cottages ||? Add you bloody to the folly**, and 
search the nretf , with a sword only, / say. When, 
Hellas being struck||, Marius precipitates himself§§, 
was he crazy ? or will you absolve the man from the 
charge of a deranged mind, and condemn the same 
of wickedness, from custom imposing cognate 
names|]|| on things ? 

There was a freedman, who an old-man did run 
about the crossways^ffl dry*t in-the-morning with 
washed hands* |, and begged, "Snatch ye me alone, 
(what great thing !" adding,) "snatch ye me alone 
from*§ death, for it-is an easy thing for the Gods :" 
he was sound in both ears and eyes ; his mind, unless 
litigious *||, his master should except, when he sold 
him*% : this vulgarf* also Chrysippusfl places in the 
fruitful clan of Menenius+§. 



* Lovers shot, with the finger and thumb, the pips at the ceil- 
ing, for a propitious omen. t In possession of your mind. 
% Utter. § To please your mistress. || Baby-cottages. IT Bloodshed. 

** Of love. tt Stab your mistress. %% Subbed. 

§§ Throws himself from a precipice. |||| Synonymous terms. 

1T1T Where the Domt stic Gods were placed, and worshipped. 
*t Sober. *J Preliminary to devotion. *§ Surpite.— Snatch -from. 
*|| Fond of law-suits. 
*% Sellers of slaves were obliged to mention all their known 
defects ; or were liable to be prosecuted by law. 

t* People-of this kind. tt Sat. I. 3. 

t§ Memorable for folly, 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 229 

*' Jupiter, who givest and takest-away great 
griefs," says the mother of a boy lying-down* now 
five months, "if the frigid quartan fever shall have 
left my boy, in-the-morning on that dayf, on which 
thou enjoinest fastings, he shall stand naked in the 
Tiber:" should chance or the physician have relieved 
the sick boy from the precipice J, the mother delirious 
will kill him fixed on the cold bank, and bring-back 
the fever. With what evil has she been shaken as- 
to her mind? with fear of the Gods§." 

These arms||, Stertinius^I, the eighth of the wise 
men, gave to me his friend, lest hereafter I should 
be-accosted unavenged. He who shall have said 
that-I am insane, shall hear** it as-often, and learn to 
respect the things hanging from his back unknownff- 

Horatius. — Stoic, after your damage so may you 
sell all things for more ! With what folly, (since 
there is not one kind,) do you think that-I am-in- 
sane ? for /seem to myself sane. 

Damasippus. — What ! when Agave carries in her 
hands the cut-off head of her unhappy sonjf, then 
does she seem furious§§ to herself ? 

Horatius. — / confess that-I am a fool, (let-it-be- 
permitted to concede to truths,) and also insane ; 

* Lying ill. t Annually. % Extremity. § Superstition. 

|| Arguments. IT See above. ** Be called. 

+ t His own faults — an allusion to a fable of iEsop, in which 
Jupiter is feigned to have put two bags on every man; the one, filled 
with his neighbour's faults, before, the other, filled with his own, 
behind : so that he sees the former, but not the latter. 
XX Pentheus. §§ Mad. 

X 



230 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

only explain you this thing, with what vice of mind 
you may think that-I am-sick ? 

Damasippus. — Accept* you : firstly you buildf, 
this is, you imitate long J persons, from bottom to 
top all-together of the module of-two-feet ; and you 
the same ridicule the spirit and strut greater than § 
his body of Turbo || in arms : how are you less 
ridiculous than he? Whether, whatever Maecenas 
does, is-it right that-you also, by-so-much dissimilar, 
and by-so-much less to contend should do ? The 
young of an absent frog being pressed by the foot of 
a calf, when one escaped, he details to the mother, 
that a great beast dashed-in-pieces his relatives^! : she 
began to ask, " how-great it might be ? whether," 
inflating herself, "it might have been so** great V 
It was greater by half." <k Whether, was it greater 
by-so-much ?" When she inflated herself more and 
more ; " Not, if you should have burst yourself, " he 
says, " will you be equal. " This image is not much 
dissimilar ft from you. Add you%% your poems now, 
(this is, add you oil to the fire,) which if any sane 
person has made, you sane also make. I do not men- 
tion your horrible rage. 

Horatius. — Now desist you. 

Damasippus. — I do not mention your style-of-living 
greater than your income. 



Hear. t Vying with Maecenas and others. % Tall. 

§ Too great for. !| A gladiator. 1T Brethren. 

** Tantum.— For tarn. tt Abludit.— Is-dissimilar. 

XX To the folly of building. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 281 

Horatius. — You should keep yourself, O Damasip- 
pus, to your-own affairs. O greater madman, at- 
length you should spare the lesser one. 



SATIRE IV. 

HOEATIUS AND CATIUS. 

Horatius. — Whence comes, and whither goes 
Catius ? 

Catius. — I have not time, desiring to put signs* 
for new precepts, such-as surpass Pythagoras, and the 
accused of Anytusf, and learned Plato. 

Horatius. — / confess my fault, since / have inter- 
rupted you at so unlucky a time : but may you good 
grant pardon, / beg. But if now anything shall 
have escaped you, you will recall it soon, whether 
this thing is of nature, or art, you are admirable in 
each. 

Catius. — Indeed that thing was a care to me, in 
what manner / might keep all the things, as subtile 
things, and treated in subtile speech. 

Horatius. — Declare you the name of the man, at- 
the-same-time too, whether he is a Roman, or a 
stranger. 

Catius. — / mindful will singj the precepts them- 
selves ; the author shall be-concealed. 

* Make notes. t Socrates. X Recite. 



232 THE SECOND BOOK OP SATIRES. 

Remember you to serve those eggs, which eggs 
shall have a long fashion*, as of better flavor, and 
as more nutritious than round eggs : for they callousf 
contain a male yolk. Cabbage which has grown in 
dry fields, is sweeter than suburban cabbage % ; 
nothing is more-watery than an irrigated garden §. 
If an evening guest suddenly shall have surprised 
you, lest a hard hen should badly || respond to his 
palate, you will be taught to merge it alive in Faler- 
nian must; this will make it tender. Meadow mush- 
rooms have the best nature : it is badly trusted^ to 
others. He will go-through** salubrious summers, 
who shall finish his dinners with blackff mulberries, 
which he shall have collected from the tree before 
the grievous sunj|. 

A.ufidius did mix honies with strong Falernian 
wine, faultily; since it-is-fit to commit to vacant 
veins nothing unless mild: you will have washed-out 
your bowels with mild mulse better. 

liyour hard stomach shall stay§§, muscle and com- 
mon shell-fishes will expel the obstructing things, 
and the short herb of sorrel, but not without white 
Coan wine. 

The growing moons fill-up the lubricous shell- 
fishes; but not every sea is fertile-in the generous 
shell-fish. The Lucrine muscle is better than the 



* Form. t Tough-shelled. % Cabbage grown about town. 

§ Cabbage. || Malum.— For male. IT We badly trust. 

** Pass. ft Ripe. JJ Before the heat of the sun. 

S§ Be inactive. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP SATIRES. 233 

Baian burret : oysters arise at Circeii, urchins arise 
at Misenum ; soft Tarentum* boasts herself in broad 
scallops. 

Nor anyone rashly can arrogate to himself the art 
of suppers, the subtle reasonf of tastes not before 
being examined. Nor is-it sufficient, that-anyone 
sweep-off fishes from a dearj table§, ignorant for 
which sauce is more-apt, and which being roast the 
languid guest soon will repose himself on his 
elbow ||. 

Let an Umbrian boar, and nourished with the 
oaken acorn, curved the rotund dishes of him avoid- 
ing inert** flesh: for the Laurentian boar is bad, 
fattened with sedges and reed. 

The vineyard not always supplies eatable kidsff. 
A sapient man%\ will seek the shoulders of a preg- 
nant hare. 

What nature and age might be to fishes and birds, 
having been inquired has been-open§§ to no palate 
before my palate. 

There are some, the genius of whom prompts |||| only 
new small-crusts. By-no-means is-it sufficient to 
consume one's care on one thing : as if anyone should 
labour this thing alone, that his wines may not^flj be 
bad, careless with-what-sort-of olive-oil he may be- 
sprinkle his fishes. If you should put Massic wines 

*Ep. I. 7. t Distinction. J Costly. § Stall. 

II The position for eating. Od. I. 27. 

1T Bend. ** Insipid. 

ft Goats were turned into vineyards, after the vintage. 

tt Man of taste. §§ Disclosed. |||| Produces. INT Ne.— That not 

x3 



234 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

under* a serene sky, if there is anything thick, it 
will be-fined by the nocturnal air, and the odor in- 
imical to the nerves will depart; but those wines 
vitiated by linenflose their entire flavor. He who 
knowing mixes Surrentine wines with Falernian 
lees, well collects the sediment with a dove's egg; 
since the yoke rolling alien things% seeks the bot- 
toms^ You will recreate the languid drinker with 
roasted shrimps and African cockle; for lettuce swims- 
on an acrid stomach after wine : by ham rather and 
rather by sausages it requires to be restored to eatings; 
indeed it rather-chooses all things, whatever are-hot 
having been brought from the unclean cook-shops. 

It-is the price of the workj| thoroughly-to-know 
the nature of the doubled sauce. The simple sauce 
consists of sweet olive-oil, which it-will-be-fit to mix 
with rich wine and pickle, not other than thai with 
which the Byzantian jar has become-putrid**. When 
this confusedft with cut herbs has become-hot, and 
sprinkled with Corycian saffron has stood, moreoverJJ 
you will add what the pressed berry of the Venafran 
olive has remitted §§. , 

Tiburtian apples yield to Picenian apples in juice ; 
for in fashion|||| they excel. The Venuculan grape 

* Supponas. — Put-under. 

t Injured by being filtered through a linen strainer. 

% Extraneous particles. § Sinks to the bottom. 

|| It is worth while. IT Compound. 

** A periphrasis for the Byzantine pickle. 

tt Mixed. XX In addition. 

§§ Yielded. HI! Form. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP SATIRES. 235 

is-convenient for jars*; the Albanian grape more- 
rightly you will have hardened in smokef. This grape 
with apples I first am-found to have placed-round J in 
pure little-dishes, I first am-found to have placed- 
round X in pure little dishes lees and pickle, and / 
first am-found to have placed-round % in pure little- 
dishes white pepper sifted-through with black salt. 

It-is an immense vice§, to give three thousand 
sesterces\\ to the market, and urge^I the wandering 
fishes in a narrow dish. 

It-moves** great fastidiousnesses in the stomach, 
whether a slave has handled a chalice with greasy 
hands, while he licks-up stolen-morsels ; or grievousff 
slime has adhered to an old bowl. In common 
brooms, in napkins, in saw-dust, how-great expense 
consists ? they being neglected, the disgrace is great. 
Is-it-fit that-you should sweep various stones \\ with 
a muddy palm §§, and put around Tyrian vest- 
merits IHJ unwashed coverlets, forgetful, by-how-much 
less care and expense these things may have*[^[, by- 
so-much more-justly that-they are-reprehended than 
those things, which cannot belong unless to rich 
tables *f? 

Horatius ! O learned Catius, by our friendship and 
the Gods entreated, remember you, to bring me to 

* Is fit for preserving in jars. t Hung in smoke, for drying. 

t The table. § Fault. 

|| Sat. I. 3. IT Confine. 

** Excites. tt Disgusting. %% Chequered marbles. 

§§ Palm-branch. |||| Furniture. 1T1T Require. 

*t The tables of the rich. 



236 THE SECOND BOOK OP SATIRES. 

hear *, wherever f you shall go. For though you 
may relate all things to me with mindful breast, yet 
an interpreter \ you may not have delighted just-so- 
much : add you the countenance§ and habit|| of the 
man; which^[ you blest to have seen do not weigh** 
of great value, because it-has-befallen you : but not 
a moderate careff is-in me, that / may be-able to 
go-to the remote fountains, and draw the precepts of a 
blessed life JJ. 



SATIRE V. 

ULYSSES AND TIRESIAS. 

Ulysses. — This thing also, O Tiresias, beside the 
things narrated, respond you to me petitioning : by 
what arts and means / may be-able to repair my 
lost§§ affairs. Why laugh you ? 

Tiresias. — Now, is-it not sufficient for you art- 
ful that-you should be-carried-back to Ithaca||||, and 
to behold your paternal penates^ ? 

Ulysses. — you having lied to no person as-to 
anything, you see that naked and helpless / return 
home, you being prophet *f; neither there either has 
my repository* \ been untouched by suitors, or my 

* These precepts. t How far soever. % Reporter. § Look. 
|| Appearance. IT Countenance. ** Consider. +t Anxiety. 
JJ Ironically of the disciples of Epicurus, who placed their sum- 
mum bonum, or, chief good, in voluptuousness. §§ Ruined. 

|| || Under the dominion of Ulysses. f IT Od. II. 4. 

*t According to your prophecy. *J Wine-store. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 237 

cattle; but-yet both birth, and virtue, unless with 
substance, is viler than sea- weed. 

Tiresias. — Since, ambiguities* being omitted, you 
dread poverty, acceptf you, in what way you may 
be-able to become-rich. 

Whether a thrush, or other private % thing shall 
be-given to you, let it fly-down thither, where a 
great fortune shines, the lord being old; sweet-apples, 
and whatever honors§ your cultured farm shall 
bear to you, before the Lar |] let the rich man 
more-venerable % than the Lar |] taste : who though 
he shall be perjured, without family**, and gory with 
fraternal blood, and a fugitive, yet you should not 
refuse to go an exteriorf f companion to him,J| if he 
should desire. 

Ulysses. — That I should cover the side of an un- 
clean Dama§§ ? not so at Troy have /borne myself, 
contending always with better |||| men. 

Tiresias. — Therefore you will be poor. 

Ulysses. — 7 will command my brave mind to tole- 
rate this thing : and formerly I have borne greater 
things. Do you forthwith, O augur, tell whence I 
may turn-up^^I riches and heaps of money. 

Tiresias. — / have told indeed, and I do tell. You 
cunning should catch-at everywhere the testaments*f 
of old-men: nor, if a crafty one and another shall have 



Circumlocutions. t Hear. J Rare. § Fruits. 

Od. III. 23. 1T More to be venerated. ** Of no family. 

tt Outer. JJ To give him the wall. §§ Sat. I. 6. 

|!l| Superior. IT IT Ruam—Foi eruam. *+ W1II3. 



238 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

fled the insnarer the hook* being previously-nibbled, 
either should you lay-aside hope, or illuded leave-off 
the art. If a great or lesser matter shall be-contest- 
ed in the forum ever, whichever-of-the-twof shall 
live wealthy without sons, though impious, who vol- 
untarily daring may call a better man into court, be 
you the defender of him : spurn you the citizen priorj 
in fame and cause, if at home there shall be a son 
or fruitful wife. " O Quintus," suppose you, or 
Publius, (soft little-ears§ rejoice in the praenomen||,) 
'' your virtue has made me a friend to you : 
/ know the uncertain law : I can defend causes : 
anyone shall snatch my eyes sooner from^f me, 
than he should impoverish you in an empty 
nut**: this is my care, that you may notff lose 
anything, nor be a joke." Bid you him to go 
home and take-care-of his pellicle|J : become you 
yourself his agent : persist you, and endure ; whether 
"the red Little-dog§§ shall cleave the infant|||| sta- 
tues^] H ;" or Furius*f distended with fat -tripe "shall 
spit-upon the wintry Alps with hoary snow*J." " Do 
not you see, (some-one, touching with his elbow the 
person standing near, will say,) " how patient he is ! 

* Bait— the presents. t Litigants. t Superior. 

§ Ears accustomed to soft speeches— adulation. || The prefixed name. 

1T Bripiet— Snatch-from. ** In the value of an empty nut. 

tt Ne.— That-not. %% Thin skin — delicate person. 

§§ Od. 1. 17. mi Speechless. 

1T1F A quotation, in ridicule, from Furius — it is the dog-days. 
*t A bad poet. 
*t Another quotation, in ridicule, from Furius, who called snow- 
Jupiter's spittle — it is winter. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 239 

how apt* for his friends he is ! how sharp he is ! 
More tunniesf will swim-to, and your fish-ponds:}: 
will increase. 

If for anyone besides a son badly in-health §, 
brought-up in an excellent estate shall be-reared ; 
lest a manifest obsequiousness of a single man || 
should strips you, gently do you officious creep into 
the hope, that both you may be- written second heir, 
and, if any accident shall have driven the boy to 
Orcus**, you may come into the vacuum : very-rarely 
this dieff fails. 

Whoever shall deliver the testament^ to you to- 
be-read, remember you to decline, and remove the 
tablets§§ from you: so however, that askance you 
may snatch, what the first wax|||| may will in the 
second verseHIT; do you run-through with a quick eye, 
whether you are sole heir or co-heir with many per- 
sons. Frequently an experienced scribe*f from*J a 
quinquevir*§ will delude the gaping raven*||, and 
the catcher* II Nasica will give#H laughs to Caranus.f* 

Ulysses. — Are you furious fj, or with-design do 
you mock me, by singingf§ obscure things ? 



f Serviceable, f In the same sense as gudgeons are used among us. 

% Preserves. 

§ Validus male filius,—¥ox invalidus filius, an invalid son. 

| Attention to a single man. % Unmask. ** Od. I. 28. 

tt Game. Jt Will. §§ Writings. 

1 1| First page of the waxed tablet. ITf Line. *f Town-clerk. 

f J Risen from. *§ One of five commissioners. *|| Legacy-hunter. 

*1T Afford. \* A testator who disappointed Nasica. 

tt Mad with inspiration. t§ Predicting, 



240 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

Tiresias. — Laertiades*, whatever i" stall say, 
either will be, or not $ for great Apollo gives to me 
to divine. 

Ulysses. — What however that fablef may wish 
for itself J, if it-is-permitted, declare you. 

Tiresias. — At the time at which the youth§ to- 
be-dreaded by the Parthians, an offspring derived 
frim high iEneas, shall be great by land and sea, 
the tall daughter of Nasica, dreadiDg to repay the 
whole || sum%, will marry stout Coranus. Then the 
son-in-law will do this thing : he will give his tab- 
lets** to his father-in-law, and entreat, that he 
would read : Nasica will accept the much denied 
tablets**, at length and tacit read, and find nothing 
left to himself, andhis-own relatives, except to weep. 

Toff these things I advise that thing%% ; if haply 
an artful woman or a freedman should manage a deli- 
rious old-man, you should approach them as an asso- 
ciate : you should praise, that you may be-praised 
absent. This thing assists also ; but it-surpasses by- 
far before to attack the capital itself. §§ Shall he 
write bad verses ? praise you. 

I being an old-man, this thing, which I will tell, 
happened: An impious old-woman at Thebes accor- 
ding-to her testament ||j| thus was carried-outlffl: her 
carcase anointed with much oil her heir bore on his 

* Son of Laertes — Ulysses. t Tale about Xasica and Coranus. 

J Impoit. § Augustus. || Suldum.—'FoT solidum. 

IT Afraid he shall he compelled to repay a lean to Coranus. 

** Testamentary writings, tt In addition to. J J The following. 

§§ The old man himself. II I! Will. %% To burial. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 241 

naked shoulders: doubtlessly if she could escape 
him dead ; / suppose, because he too-much had 
pressed-upon her living. Cautious approach you • 
nor should you be-wanting to your work, nor immo- 
derate abound*. Garrulous you will offend a diffi- 
cult t and morose person. Voluntarily you should 
not also be-silent. You should be comic DavusJ, 
and stand with your head awry, much similar to one 
in-dread. Step you with obsequiousness : monish 
you him, if the air has increased§, that cautious he 
should veil his dear head : extract you him from the 
crowd with opposed shoulders: prick-up you your 
ear for him loquacious. Does he importune || love to 
be-lauded ? until, with hands uplifted to heaven, he 
shall have said, "Enough now!" urge^T you him, 
and inflate his increasing bladder** with tumidff 
speeches. 

When he shall have relieved you from long service 
and care, and certainlyj| awake, you shall have heard, 
"Let Ulysses be heir of the fourth part§§ :" scatter||| 
you these words hereupon, " Then now is Dama my 
companion nowhere ? whence shall 1 find for my- 
self one so brave, and so faithful : " and, if a little 
you can, bewail you him. It-is-possible to conceal a 
countenance betraying joys. The sepulchre^, 
committed to your discretion, erect you without sor- 



* Overact. t Splenetic. J Like Davus in trie comedy. 

§ Freshened. \\ Troublesome. IT Ply. ** Vanity, 

tt Flattering. \\ Certum.— For certo, §§ Of the estate. 
1111 Thro-w out. HIT Monument. 

Y 



'242 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

didnesses : the funeral, excellently performed, let 
the vicinage laud. If anyone haply of your coheirs 
a senior shall cough badly, to him do you say, 
whether he should be the purchaser, from your part*, 
of a farm or house, that-you with-pleasure would 
assign it at a coin f . 

But imperious Proserpine draws mej : live you, 
and farewell you. 



SATIRE VI. 

H0RATITJS. 

This thing was among my wishes : a measure of land 
not very great, where a garden, and neighbouring 
my house a continual fountain of water, and a little 
wood besides these thirigs might be. The Gods have 
done more-amply and better. It-is well ! / pray- 
nothing more-ample, O thou born-of Maia§, unless 
that thou wouldest make these gifts permanent to 
me. If neither / have made my estate greater by a 
bad mean, nor am about-to-make it less by vice or 
fault ; if / venerate |J foolish nothing of these 
things : — " that that next angle could be-added, 
which now deforms my little-field ! O that some 



* Share of the estate. t Trifle. 

J As if the shades, permitted by Proserpine to revisit the light, 
were compelled to return at ail appointed hour. 

§ Mercury. || Pray for. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP SATIRES. 243 

fortune would show an urn of silver to me ! as to 
him, who, treasure being found, bought* that very 
field, which he a mercenary ploughed, rich, Herculesf 
being his friend : " if, what is-present pleases me 
grateful, with this prayer / entreat thee, that thou 
wouldest make the cattle fat for their master, and 
other things, except his genius t '- and, as thou art- 
wont, be-present to me my greatest guardian. 

Therefore when / have removed myself to the 
mountains and to my castle § from the city, what 
rather || should / illustrate ^f in my satires, and my 
pedestrian** Muse ? Neither evil ambition destroys 
me, nor heavy Auster ff, and grievous %% Auc- 
tumnus §§, the gain of bitter Libitina ||||. 

O Matutinus %% father, or-if O Janus more-wil- 
lingly thou hearest-*f , whence *+ men institute*§ the 
first labors of their works and life, (so it-has-pleased*|| 
the Gods,) be thou the beginning of my song. 

At Rome you hurry me away *U as a sponsor f* ; 
" Come, lest sooner anyone should respond to the 
office, urge you !" whether Aquilofj sweeps the earth* 

* Mercutw. — Understand est. 
t The 7t\ovto8ott)P,— giver of riches. 
J A play upon pinque,fat, as applied to cattle; but to the mind, 
stupid. 

§ Villa, as a place of refuge. 

|| Than my country life. IT Celebrate. ** Prosaic. 

tt Od. II. 14. tt Sickly. §§ Od. II. 5. |||| Od. III. 30. 

1T1T Of the morning. *t Art called. 

*J From whom — under whose auspices. *§ Commence. 

*.|| Plucitum. — Understand^. *1T Rapis. — Hurry- away. 

+* Surety. %* Od. I. 3. 



244 THE SECOND BOOK OP SATIRES. 

or winter draws the snowy day in an interior circle*, 
it-is necessary to go. 

Afterwards, that being clearly and certainly spo- 
kenf, which may be-against me, it-is to-be-strug- 
gled by me in the crowd, and an injury £ is to-be- 
done to tardy persons. " What do you wish for your- 
self, O insane man, and what thing are you doing ?" 
an impious man urges with enraged prayers § : 
" You would knock every thing which withstands, if 
with observant mind|| you should be-having-recourse 
to Maecenas ! " 

This thing delights, and is honey^I, / will not lie. 
But as-soon-as it has been come** to the blackjf 
Esquili8e|J, a hundred businesses of others leap 
through my head and about my side. " Roscius beg- 
ged that you should be-with him at the Puteal §§ 
before the second hour to-morrow. The scribes jj|| 
begged you that you would remember, Quintus to 
return to-day concerning a common matter, great and 
new. Take-care you, that Maecenas may impress his 
seals^I^I on these tablets. If you should have said, U I 
will try : " " If you will, you can." he adds and insisis. 

The seventh year nearer the eighth year soon 
shall have fled, from the time at which Maecenas be- 
gan to have me in the number of his friends, only 

* The arc traced by the sun, which becomes gradually smaller 

towards the winter solstice. t As a surety. X Affront, 

§ Imprecations. || Mind observant of an appointment. 

IT As honey to the pa-ate — agreeable. ** I have come. 

tt Gloomy. JJ The residence of Maecenas. Ep. 5. 

§§ Strictly, the cover of a puteus, or, well, in the forum — the forum. 

Illl Secretaries of the Quaestors, &c. 1T1i Officially. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 245 

for this thing*, as one whom he might wish to take 
in his chariot, making a journey, and to whom to in- 
trust trifles, this kind: "What hour is-iU" " Is 
Thracian Gallina f equal to Syrus ? J" " Matutine § 
colds now bite those little cautious || : " and those 
things which well are-deposited in a chinky ear. 

Through all this time I have been more-subject for 
day and hour U to envy. " Our friend** has beheld 
the games in-company, he has played in the Campus; 
He is the son of Fortune ! " all say. A frigid f f 
rumor flows from the RostraJJ through the cross- 
ways : whoever is in-the-way consults me : 

" O good man / (for it-must- needs-be that-you know, 
since you are more-nearly contiguous to the Gods§§,) 
have you heard anything of the Daci?" 

" Nothing indeed." 

" How you always will be a derider 1 " 

" But may all the Gods disturb me, if I have heard 
anything." 

" What ! whether is Caesar || || about-to-give the 
farms promised to the soldiers in Triquetra Iffi or the 
Italian land ? " 

They wonder-at me swearing that-I know nothing, 
as doubtless a singular mortal of extraordinary and 
deep silence. 

* Purpose. 

t A gladiator, called Thracian, from having Thracian weapons. 

I A gladiator. § Morning. || Who ill provide against them' 

IT Daily and hourly. ** Q. H. Flaccus. ft Chilling. 

tt The orators' pulpit, in the forum, so called from being adorned 

with rostra, beaks of ships. 

§§ Persons in power— Augustus, Maecenas, &c. |||| Augustus. 

1T1T Sicily— so called from its triangular shape. 

y3 



246 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

Among these things the light * is-lost to me mis- 
erable, not without wishes : " O country, when shall 
I behold you ? and when shall-it-be-permitted, now 
with books of the ancients, now with sleep and inertf 
hours, to take! pleasant oblivions of a solicitous life ? 
O when shall the bean, related to Pythagoras§, and 
at-the-same-time small-herbs dressed sufficiently with 
fat lard be served? O nights and suppers of the Gods, 
which myself, and my friends, eat before my-own Lar,|l 
and i" feed forward slaves with the tasted viands ! 
According-as each has a desire, the guest dries unequal 
chalices, freed from insane laws : whether anyone 
strong takes large cups, or anyone becomes-moist with 
moderate ones more-joy fully. Then conversation 
arises, not concerning villas or houses of others, nor 
whether Lepos^f dances badly or-no ; but, what more 
pertains to us, and is bad not-to-know, we agitate : 
whether by riches, or virtue, men may be happy ; or 
what should draw us to friendships, use**, or riglitff; 
and what may be the nature of good, and what may 
be the summit of it. 

Among these things Cervius, a neighbour prates 
old-womens' fables out-of the subjectJJ. For if any- 
one ignorant lauds the solicitous §§ riches of Arel- 

* Day- t Leisure. % As with a draught. 

§ An allusion to that philosopher's believing that the souls of the 
dead, sometimes, (andso, probably, of someof his departed relatives,) 
transmigrated into the bean, for which reason he abstained from it. 
|| Od. III. 23. 
1T A dancer — named Lepos, . a hare, from the cracefulness of his 
movements. ** Interest. tt Virtue. 

H Arising from the subject of conversation. § § Anxious. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 247 

lius, thus he begins : Once a rustic* mouse is-reported 
to have received an urban f mouse in his poor 
cave J, an old host received an old friend, rough, 
and attentive to things acquired, so-that however he 
could relax his narrow mind in hospitalities. Why 
do I say many words ? he grudged neither the laid- 
up vetch, nor long oat : and bringing in his mouth 
an arid§ raisin, and half-eaten pieces of lard, gave 
them, desiring by a various|| supper to conquer the 
fastidiousnesses of his guest scarcely touching the 
several things with proud tooth: while the father«f[ 
himself of the house outstretched on this-year's straw 
eat wheat and darnel, relinquishing the better things 
of the feast. At-length the urbanf mouse said to him : 
"Why does-it-delight you," says he, "O friend, to 
live patient on the back** of an abruptff grove ? 
are you willing^ to prefer men and the city to wild 
woods ? take you the way, trust you yourself to me, 
as my companion, since terrestrial things live allot- 
ted mortal lives, nor is there any escape of death 
either for the great one or the small one. Where- 
fore, O good friend, while it-is-permitted, live you 
happy in pleasant circumstances ; live you mindful, 
of how brief a life you are." When these words 
impelled the rustic* mouse, he light leaps-forth from 
tlie house; thence both perform the proposed jour- 
ney, desrring at-night to creep-under the walls of 
the city. And now night held the middle space of 

* Country. t City. t Hole. § Dried. || Diversified. 

IT Master. ** Ridge. tt Rugged. XX Vis.— -Are-willing. 



248 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 



the heaven *, when each places his footsteps in an 
opulent house ; where a vest f tinged with the red 
berry | shone upon couches of-ivory, and many 
dishes remained from a great supper, which of-yes- 
terday were-in baskets high piled-up. Therefore 
when he placed the rustic § mouse outstretched on a 
purple vest t, as a girt-up |j host he runs-to-and-fro, 
and accumulates meats, and-also servilely % dis- 
charges the very offices, previously-licking every 
thing which he presents. He ** reclining rejoices 
in his changed lot, and among the good things acts the 
joyful guest ; when suddenly a great noise of fold- 
ing-doors shook-off each from the couches. They 
fearful began to run through the whole room, and 
more breathless to be-in-trepidation, as-soon-as the 
high house resounded with Molossian dogs. 

Then the rustic§ mouse says, li I have not need- 
of this life, and may you farewell: me a wood and 
cave ft safe from snares shall solace with light 
pulse." 

♦ 

SATIRE VII. 

DAVTJS AND HORATIUS. 

Davus. — Now-long-while / listen, and a slave de- 
siriDg to say a few words to you, am-afraid. 

* Possessed the middle region of the sky. 

i Coverlet. I Scarlet dye. § Country. 

|| Expedite. The phrase alludes to the custom of servants, who 

had their garmeuts bound up with a girdle, to give them a freer 

motion. r Like a servant. ** The other. ft Hole. 



THE SECOND BOOjt OF SATIRES. 249 

Horatius . — Is -it Davus ? 

Davus. — Yes, Davus, a slave friendly to his master, 
and frugal, what is sufficient ; this is, so-that you 
may think him a long-lived one*. 

Horatius. — Come you, since thus our ancestors 
have willed, use you the liberty of Decemberf : nar- 
rate you. 

Davus. — A part of men rejoices in vices constantly, 
and urges their purpose : much part swimsj; some- 
times seizing right things, sometimes obnoxious§ to 
wrong things. Priscus often noted with three rings, 
sometimes with the left hand bare, lived so un- 
equal^, that he changed the clavus^[ for the hours**; 
from+f great edifices suddenly he concealed him- 
self in a place, whence a more-decent freed-man 
could come-out scarcely honourably J. ;f : now an adul- 
terer at Rome, now he rather-wished to live a doctor 
at Athens ; born . the Vertumni§§ being unfavour- 
able, as-many-as there are §§ ||[|. 

The buffoon Volanerius, after the just^ni gout 
crushed*! his joints, fed a person hired at daily 
wages, who might take-up for him, and throw into a 

* Said under the notion that the good die prematurely. 
t The Saturnalia. Sat. 3. J Fluctuates. 

§ Devoted. (] Uniformly. 

^ Sometimes wore the broad one, like a senator, and somtimes 
the narrow one, like a knight. Sat. I. 5. 

** Every hour. tt Issuing from. JJ Creditably. 

§§ Vertumnus was a Tuscan deity, who, like Proteus, changed 

himself into any shape. 

HII Condemned, at birth, by the angry Vertumnus, to mutability. 

TW As a punishment for excesses. *f Crippled. 



250 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIBES. 

box the dice : by--how-much more-constant the same 
person is in vices, by-so-much more-lightly miserable 
and better is he than he, who labours now with a 
constrained, now with a lax rope*. 

Horatius. — Willyow not say to-day, whither these 
so stale words tend, Furciferf ? 

Davus. — To you, / say. 

Horatius. — In what way, worst maw? 

Davus. — You laud the fortune, and manners of the 
ancient people, and you the same, if any God suddenly 
should bring you to those things, even would refuse : 
either because you do not feel t hat-that which you 
proclaim is more-right, or because you do not with- 
firmness defend right, andstickt, in-vain desiring to 
pluck your foot from§ the mud||. At Eome you 
desire the country ; in-the-country you lights extol 
the absent City to the stars. If nowhere you are 
haply invited to supper, you laud your undisturbed 
vegetable**; and, as-if anywhere you go bound+f, 
pronounce yourself so happy, and are-pleased, that 
nowhere it-is to-be-drunk by youJJ. If Maecenas 
should have bade that-you should come to him just- 
before the first lamps§§ a late guest : "Does nobody 
bring the oil |jjl more-quickly ? who hears ?" you 
bluster with great clamor, and are-fuiious. Mulvius 

* Pursues his purpose inconstantly, 
t A reproachful term for slaves, who carried burdens, .and were 
punished with the furca, a kind of collar. % Hesitate. 

§ Evellere. — Pluck-from, || Not having energy to abandon vice, 
IT Fickle. ** Uninterrupted vegetable dinner, tt By compulsion . 
t% You are obliged to drink. §§ At dusk. 

|! 1| For the lamp, to light him to Maecenas's. 



THB SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 251 

and the buffoons*, having prayed for you things^ 
not to-be-related J, depart. For / confess, he might 
have said, that-/ light§ am-led by my belly || : I 
snuff-up my nose at a savor U : I am imbecile, and 
inert, if any what you will, add you that I am a glut- 
ton. Should you, since you are what I am, and perhaps 
naughtier, voluntarily inveigh, as-if better, and in 
decorous words wrap-up your vice ? What, if you 
are-discovered to be more-foolish than myself, bought 
at five-hundred drachmae**? Forbear yon to terrify 
me with your countenance ; restrain yon. your hand , 
add stomachf f, while i" declare those things, which 
the porter of CrispinusJJ taught me. 

" i" am not an adulterer," you say. Nor am I, by- 
Hercules, a thief, when 1 wise go-by th'e silver vases. 
Do you take-away the peril§§ : soon vagrant nature 
will leap-forth the curbs being removed. Are you 
master to me, while you are less £/ia?2J||| so many and 
so-great commands of things^ and men ? whom the 
vindicta *f thrice and four-times imposed not ever 
could free from miserable dread ? 

Add you to the things above said, what not more- 



* Who expected to sup with you. t Imprecated on you curses. 

% Reported. § Fickle. || Appetite. IT Savoury smell. 

** The drachma was a Greek coin, of the value of four sesterces- 
Sat. 1.3. tt Anger. 

It Crispinus's porter is represented as retailing his master's, phi- 
losophy. Sat. I. 3. §§ Temptation. || || Subject to. 
1T1T Circumstances. 

*t The wand with which the praetor touched the head of a slave 
when he made him free. 



252 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

lightly should avail: for, whether he is a vicarius *, 
who obeys a slave, (as your customf says,) or a fellow- 
slave : what am I to you ? doubtlessly you, who com- 
mand me, miserable serve others, and are-led, as a 
logj moveable by nerves§ not-its-own. 

Horatius. — Who then is free ? 

Davus. — The wise man, who is imperious to 
himself|| ; whom neither poverty, nor death, nor bonds 
terrify; brave to resist desires, to contemn honors; 
and in himself whole^f, and smooth, and round, that- 
not anything external can avail through smoothness 
to delay**; against whom fortune always rushes 
maimedft. Can you from these things knowJJ any- 
thing, as your-own§§ ? A woman demands-of you 
five talents, and vexes, and besprinkles you repulsed 
from her doors with cold water ; she calls you back : 
snatch you your neck || || from the base yoke. Come 
you say you, " I am free, / am free." You are not 
able^TI : for a master not gentle urges your mind, and 
applies sharp stimulants to you weary, and turns you 
denying. 

Or when, insane man, you are-torpid*+ with a 
tablet*^ of Pausias,*§ how do you err less than I, when 

* Underslave. T Customary phrase. J Puppet. § Strings. 
|| Commands himself. IT Perfect. 

** An allusion to a globe, which, by reason of its smoothness, 
nothing external can retard. 

tt Paralyzed. XX Recognise. 

§§ Applicable to yourself. ||J| Culla— Plural number. 

*Sy Potes—Aie-able. *t Are infatuate . *X Picture. 

*§ A painter. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 253 

I admire the combats of Fulvius and Rutuba, or Pla- 
cideianus with constrained* knee, painted in red- 
color or charcoal, as if the men in very deed fight, 
and strikef , and avoidj, moving their arms ? Davus 
is-called naughty, and a loiterer ; but you yourself 
hear§ a subtle and knowing judge of the ancients. 
I am, naught, if I am-led || by a smoking cake ; 
does your great virtue, and mind resist rich suppers ? 
Obsequiousness of the belly^f is more-pernicious to 
me: why? for I am-punished on the back; how do 
you with-more-impunity catch-at those provisions, 
which cannot be-taken at-a-little ? Doubtlessly ban- 
quets sought without end become-bitter, and the il- 
luded feet** refuse to bear the vicious bodyff . Whe- 
ther does this slave err, who at night changes a fur- 
tiveJJ scraper for a grape §§? has he nothing servile, 
who, obeying his gullet||||, sells his farms ? Add you t 
that you the same can not be an hour by-yourself ; 
not rightly dispose-of leisure^H : and a fugitive, and 
vagabond, avoid you yourself, seeking now by wine, 
now by sleep, to beguile care : in-vain ; for the 
black*f companion presses, and follows you fleeing. 



* Bent. t Push. 

\ Parry. § Are called. 

|| Am allured. II Yielding to the appetite. 

** The feet cheated of their proper nourishment. 

tt The hody weakened by excesses. 

It Stolen. §§ Bunch of grapes. |||| Appetite. 

INF Otid.~ Plural number. *t Gloomy. 

Z 



254 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

Horatius. — Whence can I get for myself a 
stone*? 

Davus. — For-what-purpose is-it necessary ? 

Horatius. — Whence can I get arrows* ? 

Davus. — Either the man is-insane, or makes 
verses. 

Horatius. — Unless you more-quickly hurry-away 
yourself hence, you shall be-added a ninth labort to 
my Sabine field %. 



SATIRE VIII. 

NASIDIENUS. 

Horatius. — How has the supper of blest Nasidienus 
pleased you ? For to me, seeking you as a guest, 
you were said yesterday to drink there from the 
middle-of the day. 

Fundanius. — So that never has-it-been better for 
me§ in my life. 

Horatius. — Tell you, if it-is not a grievousJI thing, 
what food first may have appeased your enraged^" 
stomach. 

Fundanius. — In the first places there was a Luca- 
nian boar : {it was caught in the gentle Auster**, as 
the fatherft of the supper said); sharp rapes were 

* To frighten away Davus. t Labourer. J Farm. 

§ Was I better pleased. || Troublesome. IT Hungry. 

** Od. II. 14. tt Master. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 255 

around, and lettuces, and radishes, such, things as- 
provoke a languid stomach, also skirret, and pickle, 
and Coan lees. 

When these things being removed, a slave highly 
girt wiped-up the maple table with a purple cloth, 
and another collected whatever thing lay useless, and 
which might offend those supping ; as an Attic 
virgin with the sacred-things of Ceresf, dark Hy- 
daspesf advances, bearing Caecuban wines, and 
Alcon % bearing Chian wine inexperienced-of the 
sea §. Here the master says : " Whether Alban 
tome, O Maecenas, or Falernian wine delights you 
more than those wines served-up, we have each." 

Horatius. — (0 miserable riches || !) But who sup- 
ping together, Fundanius, has-it-been finely for 
youH, / labour** to know. 

Fundanius. — I was highest, and near me Viscus 
Thurinus, and below, if / remember, Varius; with 
Servilius Balatro was Vibidius, whom Maecenas had 
brought-forwardff, shadowsJJ. Noraentanus was above 
the master himself, Porcius was below, ridiculous to 
swallow-up§§ whole cakes at-once. Nomentanus was 
present for this purpose, who, if anything haply 

* Qualia.— Such-as. + See Sat. I. 3. J A slave. 

§ Unmixed with sea-water. || To have so bad a master. 

1T Were you finely entertained. ** Desire. 

ft Brought with him. 

XX Persons whom distinguished guests brought with them were 

so styled— contemptuously. 

§§ By swallowing up. 



256 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

should be-hid*, might show it with his index 
fingerf : for the rest-of the crowd, we, / say, sup-on 
birds, and shell-fishes, and fishes, things concealing 
a juice far dissimilar from the knownj^/wice, as even 
immediately appeared, when he had extended to me 
the entrails of a fried plaice and a turbot untasted§. 
After this he taught me, that-honey-apples are-ruddy 
plucked-off at the smaller || moon. What this may 
differ, you will have heard better from himself. Then 
Vibidius says to Balatro : " We, unless we drink with- 
lossH, shall die unavenged **;" and calls-for greater 
chalicestt* Pallor then began to change the face of 
the host, nothing so dreading as hard drinkers, either 
because they speak-ill too-freely, or because fervid 
wines deafenJJ the subtle §§ palate. Vibidius and Ba- 
latro turn whole wine-bins into||] Allifanian cups, 
all following ; the guests of the lowest couch nothing 
hurt the flagons. 

A lamprey is-presented extended on a paten^[«f 
among swimming*f shrimps. Upon this the master 
says : " This lamprey was caught heavy* J, about-to- 
be worse in flesh after birth*§. A sauce has been 
mixed for these shrimps : with oil, which the first *ll 
cellar of Venafrum has pressed*^! ; and pickle from 

* Escape notice. t Fore-finger. % Usual. 

§ Before I had tasted them. || Waning. 1T To the master's cost. 

** For his stingy ostentation. tt Cups. %\ Deaden. 

§§ Discerning. ||jj Invertunt. — Turn-into, 

HIT Dish. *t Floating. *J Pregnant. *§ Spawning. *|| Best. 

*1T Expressed. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 257 

the juices of the Iberian fish * ; and wine of-five- 
years, but bornf on-thisside the sea J while it § is- 
boiled; fit § being boiled Chian wine is so conve- 
nient ||, that not any other is more convenient \\ than 
this) ; and white pepper, not without vinegar, which 
shall have changed the Me thymnean grape to corrup- 
tion. I first showed 51 to boil-in it green rockets, 
and bitter elecampanes ; Curtillus first showed ^[ to 
boil-in it unwashed sea-urchins, as better than the 
pickle, which the marine shell-fish remits**." 

Meanwhile the suspended hangings made heavy 
ruinsff upon the paten,J| drawing as much black dust 
as§§ not ^quiloll || excites™ in the Campanian fields.*f 
We fearing a greater thing, after we felt that there 
was no peril, are-erected*|. Rufus, his head being 
laid, as if a son immature*§ had died, began to weep. 
What might have been*|| the end, unless sapient 
Nomentanus thus had raised*^ his friend? "Alas, 
O Fortune, what God is more-cruel towards us than 
thou? How always ^owrejoicest to illudef* human 
things !" Varius with a napkin scarcely could re- 
strain laughter. Balatro, suspending all things on 

* Spanish mackarel. t Produced. % Sat. I. 10. § The sauce. 

|| Convenit. — Is-convenient— is suitable. % Taught. 

** Yields. ft Downfalls. %% Dish. 

§§ Quantum. — As-much-as. |||| Od. I. 3. H1T Raises. 

*t Plains. *t Raise our heads. *§ Prematurely. 

*|| Esset. — For fuisset. *1f Tolleret.—Fot sustulisset. 

+ * Sport with. 

z3 



258 THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 

his nose #, said, "This is the condition of living ; and 
therefore equalf fame never is about-to-respond to 
your labor. 

Is-it-fit that-you, that I may be-received cleanly, 
should be-tortured distracted by every solicitude ? 
lest burnt bread, lest badly seasoned sauce should 
be-served-up? that all the slaves girt-about rightly 
and combed should minister! ? Add you besides 
these accidents ; if hangings should fall, as just-now ; 
if the groom having slipped with his foot should 
break a paten§. But of an entertainer, as of a lea- 
der, adverse things are-wont to discover the ability, 
prosperous things are-wont to conceal the ability." 
Nasidienus to these things replies. " May the Gods 
grant to you, whatever blessings you may pray, so 
good a man you are and courteous a guest : " and 
calls-for his sandals. Then on every couch you 
might see that-divided whispers buzzed in the secret 
ear. 

Horatius. — I should wish to have seen no games 
rather than these ; but come you, recount you those 
things, which subsequently you ridiculed. 

Fundanius. — While Yibidius inquires of the slaves, 
whether also the flagon was broken, because cups 
are not given || to him calling -for them; and while 
it-is-laughed^l things being feigned**, Balatro being 

* Turning up his nose at all things. Sat. I. 6. t Equivalent. 

X Attend. § Dish. || Dentur —Are-given. 

% We laugh. ** On feigned pretences. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF SATIRES. 259 

second ; Nasidienus, you return of changed brow, as_ 
if by art* about- to-emend your fortune ; afterwards 
slaves followedf bearing on a great dish the dis- 
severed members* of a crane, sprinkled with much 
salt not without flour ; and the liver of a white 
goose fed with fat § figs ; and the torn-ofF shoulders 
of hares, as by-much sweeter a thing, than if one 
should eat them with the loins ; then we saw also 
that-blackbirds with burnt breast were-served, and 
pigeons without the buttock; sweet things, if the 
master did not narrate the eauses|| of them and the 
natures^ ; whom we so fled in-revenge, that we 
tasted nothing at-all, as-if Canidia had blown-upon 
them, worse** than African serpents. 

* Address. + Secuti. — Understand sunt. t Limbs. 

§ Fattening. || Habits. If Instincts. 

** More poisonous. 



THE FIRST BOOK 

OP 

THE EPISTLES. 



EPISTLE I. 

TO MAECENAS. 

M^cenas, celebrated by me in my first Muse* 
and to-be-celebrated in my last Muse* do you seek 
again to include in the ancient game me seen suffi- 
cientlyf, and gifted now with the foil % ? My age is 
not the same, my mind is not the same. Yeianius§, 
his arms being fixed to the post|| of the temple of 
Hercules^, lies-hid** put-a way ff in the country, lest 
so-oft hell should entreat the people§§ from the ex- 
tremity-of the arena||||. I have cme^lH, who frequently 

* Song, 
t To bring me back to the arena. The poet compares himself to 
a released gladiator. 

J A wooden foil given to gladiators in token of dismission. 

§ A gladiator. || Gate-post. 1T The God of the gladiators- 

** Lives privately. ft Retired. XX As a gladiator. 

§§ To spare his life. 

IIH Having been driven thither by his opponent. 

H1T Meaning his own feeling. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 261 

sounds-through my purged ear* : " Do you sanef 
loose maturely % the growing-old horse, lest he should 
fail at last to-be-laughed- at, and draw his flanks§." 
Now therefore both verses, and other ludicrous 
thingsW /put-aside: what is true and decent^! /care 
and ask, and am all in** this : / put together, 
and compose those things, which soon / may draw- 
forthff. 

And lest haply you should ask, who being leader^!, 
in what house §§ /may tutor myself |||| : addicted to 
swear to the words of no master, wherever the tem- 
pest hurries me, / am-brought-down a guest- Now 
/become agile, and am-merged in civil waves, the 
guardian and rigid attendant of true virtue : now 
furtively^ / relapse into the precepts of Aristippus, 
and strive to subjugate things*f to myself, not myself 
to things*f. As the night seems long to those to 
whom a mistress lies*|, and the day seems long to 
those owing work; as the year seems slow to pupils, 
whom the hard*§ custody of mothers presses*|| : so to 
me the times flow tardy and ungrateful* 1 !!, which 
delay the hope and design of doing actively that 

* Rings in my ear distinctly. t Wisely. % Timely. 

§ Break his wind — descriptive of such an effect. 

|| Sportive matters. 1T Becoming. ** Wholly intent on. 

tt For use. %% Under what guide. §§ Sect. 

IHI Enter myself a pupil. HIT Insensibly. *t Circumstances. 

*J Breaks her promise. *§ Harsh- *|| Oppresses. 

*f Disagreeable. 



262 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

which equally profits poor men and rich men equally, 
and which neglected equally will hurt youths and 
old-men. 

It-remains, that I myself should rule and solace my- 
self with these elements* : you may not be-able to 
contendf with the eye as-far-as LynceusJ, you should 
not however on-that-account if blear-eyed contemn 
to be-anointed ; nor, because you may despair-of the 
members§ of invincible Glyconjj, should you be-un- 
willing to protect your body from the knotty gout. 
It-is-possible to proceed as-far-as a certain point, if it 
is notgivenf to proceed farther. Does your breast 
burn with avarice, and miserable desire ? There are 
words** and voicesff, by which you may alleviate 
this pain, and put-away a great part of the disease. 
Do you swell with the love of praise ? there are cer- 
tain purifications^, which, the little-book§§ being 
thrice purely||j| read, will be-able to recreate^ you. 
Are you envious, and angry, and inert, *t and given- 
to-wine, and a lover ? nobody is so fierce*|, that 
he can not become-mild*§, if only he should accommo- 
date a patient ear to culture. 



* Principles. t Strain. J A man of very long sight. 

§ Limbs. I] A -wrestler of great strength. 

1T Datur.— It-is-given. ** Maxims. 

tt Charms— of philosophy. 

it Remedies. §§ Treatise containing the remedies. 

||il Sincerely. HIT Relieve. *t Indolent. *J Wild. 

*§ Become tame. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 2bd 

Virtue is to flee vice, and the first wisdom is to 
have been-free-from folly. You see, with how-great 
labor of mind and head* you would avoid those 
things, which you believe to be the greatest evils, a 
small income, and a shameful repulse : an indefati- 
gable merchant you run to the extreme Indians, 
fleeing poverty through the sea, through rocks, 
through fires : that you may notf care-for those 
things, which foolishly you admire and desire, will 
you not learn and hear, and trust a better J person ? 
What fighting man, around the villages and around 
the cross-roads, would contemn to be-crowned at 
the great Olympian games, who may have the hope, 
who may have the sweet condition of a palm§ with- 
out dust|| ? 

Silver is more-vile^r than gold, gold is more-vile% 
than virtues. ** O citizens, O citizens, money first 
is to-be-sought, virtue is to-be-sought after monies I" 
these things the highest Janus** from the lowest 
Janus** proclaims : these dictations+f young-men and 
old-men recite, suspending their bags and tablet from 
the left arm. If to four-hundred thousand sesterces 
six or seven thousand sesterces are-wanting, though 
you have mind, though you have morals, and a 
tongue H, and faith, you shall be a plebeian. But boys 
playing§§ say, " You shall be king, if you will do 

* Body. + Ne.— That-not. J Wiser. § Victory. 

II A contest* IT Less valuable. ** Sat. II. 3. ft Maxims. 

It Eloquence. §§ In their sports, 



264 THE FIRST BOOK OF EFISTLES. 

rightly." Let this be your brazen wall*, to-be- 
conscious-of nothingf to one's-self, to become-pale 
with no culpability. 

Whether is the Hoscian lawj better, (say you I- 
pray), or is the song§ of the boys better, which offers 
a kingdom to those rightly acting, and sung by the 
manly Curiijj and Camilli|| ? Does he persuade you 
better, who persuades that you should make a for- 
tune ; a fortune, if you can, rightly ; if not, by any 
mode that you should make a fortune ; that more- 
nearly you may viewH the tear-moving poems** 
of Pupius : or he who presentf f exhorts and fits 
that-you free and erectJJ should resist proud for- 
tune? 

But-if the Roman people haply should ask me, 
why, as I may enjoy the same porticoes, / may not so 
enjoy the same judgments§§, nor follow, or flee those 
things, which itself loves, or hates : that which for- 
merly the cautious fox responded to the sick lion, / 
will reply: " Because the foot-marks terrify me, all 
looking towards you, none backward ||||." You are 
a beast of many heads : for what shall /follow ? or 
whom ? A part of men delights to farm the public 
taxes : there are some, who with cakes and apples 

* Defence, t No crime. t The law of L. Roscius Otho. Ep. 4. 

§ Od. II. 1. || A Roman family name. 

IT The privilege of knights and senators. ** Tragedies. 

ft By personal instruction. tt Upright. §§ Sentiments. 

UK An allusion to the fable of the fox and the lion. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 265 

hunt-after* avaricious widows, and catch-upf old- 
men, whom they may send into their preserves : for 
many men their fortune increases by occultj usury. 
But be-it, that-different men are-held§ by different 
things and studies|! : can the same persons endure an 
hour approving the same things ? " No bay in the 
world out-shines pleasant Baiee," if a rich man has 
said, the lake and the sea feels the loveH of the 
hastening master; for whom if his vicious desire 
shall have made an auspice**, "Tomorrow ye shall 
take your tools to Teanum, O workmen." Is the 
genial couch ff in the hall? he saj-s that-nothing is 
more-preferable, that-nothing is better than a single 
life; if it is not, he swears that-it-is well for hus- 
bands alone. With what knot-can / hold ProteusJJ 
changing his forms ? What does the poor man ? 
laugh you : he changes his garrets, and couches, and 
baths, and. barbers : with his hired boat he equally is- 
sick§§ as the rich man, whom his private trireme 
takes||||. 

If taken-care-of** by an unequal*! barber as-to my 
hairs / meet you, you laugh : if haply a worn*J shirt 
is-under a \voolly*§ tunic, or if my gown sits-aside 
uneven, you laugh. What ! when my sentence*|| 



* Inveigle. + Entrap. J Concealed. § Are engaged. 
Pursuits. % Desire. ** Shall have served as an omen, 

tt Marriage-bed. %% The Proteus-like rich man. 
§§ Is as rou«h surfeited. |||| Conveys. 1T1T Trimmed. 

*t Uneven. •% Old. *§ New. *J Judgment. 

AA 



266 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

fights* with-itself ; when it spurns that, which it 
sought; when it seeks-again that, which lately it 
omittedf; when it fluctuates, and is-inconsistent in the 
whole order of life ; %)hen it pulls-down, tvhen it 
builds, when it changes square things for round 
things ?- you think that-I am-insane as- to the usual 
things;\ neither do you laugh, nor believe that-I 
need a physician, nor a curator given by the prsetor§, 
though you may be the protection || of my affairs, 
and be-angry on-account-of the badly pared nail of 
a friend depending upon you, and respecting you ! 

For the sum^I, the wise man is less than** Jupiter 
alone, rich, free, honored, handsome, finally king of 
kings; especially sane ft, unless when phlegm is 
troublesomeJ!. 



EPISTLE H. 



TO LOLLIUS. 



O greatest Lollius, while you declaim at Rome, /, at 
Praeneste, have read-again the writer of the Trojan 
war §§ ; who declares what may be honourable, 

* Is at variance. t Gave up. 1 In the usual way. 

§ As was usual in the case of insane people. |] Patron. 

IT In short. ** Inferior to. tt Sound in health. 

tt Annoyed with a cold — enough to trouble a Stoic. 

§§ Homer. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 267 

what may be shameful, what may be useful, what may 
not be, more-plainly and better than Chrysippus* 
and Crantorf. Why thus i" may have believed, un- 
less anything detains you, hear you. 

The fable % in which, on-account-of the love of 
Paris, Greece is-narrated to have been put-in-collision 
in a lingering war of Barbaria§, contains the pas- 
sions of foolish kings and peoples. Antenor advises 
to cut-off the cause of the war ||: what does Paris ? 
he denies that-he can be-compelled, that he may reign 
safe, and live blest^]". Nestor hastens to compose the 
strifes between Pelides and between Atrides : him 
love burns, ire indeed in-common burns each. What- 
ever their kings do-foolishly, the Achivi** suffer : by 
sedition, by wiles, by villany, and lust, and ire, it-is- 
sinnedff within the Ilian %% walls and without. 

Again, he has proposed to us a useful exemplar 
Ulysses, as to what virtue can-do, and what wisdom 
can-do; who, the subduer of Troy, provident §§ in- 
spected the cities and manners of many men; and 
through the wide sea, while for himself he prepares 
a return, while for ^'/associates, he prepares a return, 
endured many hard things, undrownable by the ad- 
verse waves of circumstances. You have known||| 

* Sat. I. 3. t A disciple of Xenocrates. % Iliad, 
§ Phrygia, esteemed, as all other nations, barbarian by Greece. 

|| By restoring Helen. 
% Refuses to restore Helen, in effect renounces his safety and hap- 
piness. ** Od. III. 3. tt They sin. J J Trojan. 
§§ Wise. || || Read of. 



268 THE FIRST BOOK OP EPISTLES. 

the voices of the Sirens * and the cups of Circei* ; 
which if with his associates he foolish and eager had 
drunk, he would have been under a mistress a 
harlot base and senseless, he would have lived an 
unclean dog|, or a sow friendly to the mud §. 

We are a number ||, and born to consume the 
fruits^!, like the suitors of Penelope, rakes, and the 
youth of Alcinous**, employed more than right in 
taking-care-of their skinff,to whom it was a glorious 
thing to sleep to the middle-of their days, and 
at the sound of the harp to lead|| their care to 
cease. 

That they may throttle§§ men, robbers rise by 
night; that you may save yourself ||||, do not you 
awake ? but, if you shall be-unwilling when sane^I^I, 
you will run*f when dropsical : and, unless you shall 
call-for before day a book with a light, if you will 
not apply your mind to studies and honest things, 
you awake will be-tortured by envy or love. For 
why do you hasten to remove those things, which 
hurt your eye ; but, if anything gnaws your mind, 
defer the time of curing for a year ? He who has 
begun has half the deed*} : dare you to be wise ; 

* Horn. Odyss. XII. t Ep. 17. Odyss. XIII. 

% Like, or, changed into an unclean dog. § Fond of the mud. 

|| A mere number. IT Of the earth. 

** A king of the Phaeaces — given up from youth to indulgence. 

tt Person. J J Lull. §§ Murder. 

HII Guard against the consequences of indulgence. 

%Vi Sound in health. *t For cure. *J Has half done. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 269 

begin you: he who prorogues* the hour of living 
rightly, like the rustic expectsf, till the river may 
flow-down ; but it flows, and will flow voluble to 
every agej. 

Silver is-sought, and a wife blest in bearing 
children, and uncultivated woods are-subdued § by the 
plough. Let this man, to whom what is sufficient has 
befallen, desire nothing more-ample. Not a house 
and farm, not a heap of brass and gold has with-drawn 
fevers from the sick body of the master, it has not 
with-drawn cares from the mind. The possessor 
should be-in-health it-is-necessary, if he cogitates || 
well to use the things brought-together^f. Him, who 
desires or fears, a house and estate so delights, as 
painted tablets** delight a blear-eyed person, as 
fomentations delight one-with-the-gout, as harps 
delight ears ailing with collected filth. Unless the 
vessel is untainted, whatever you pour-in becomes- 
acid. 

Spurn you pleasures : pleasure bought by pain 
hurts. The avaricious man always wants : seek you 
a certain boundary to your wish. The envious man 
becomes-leanff at the fat thingsJJ of another: Sici- 
lian tyrants have not invented a greater torment 
than envy. He who will not moderate his anger, 



Postpones. t Waits. % Rolling for ever. § Are reclaimed. 

|| Thinks. T Accumulated. ** Pictures. 

tt Pines. Jt Thriving fortunes. 

AA 3 



270 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

will wish that to be undone, which grief and passion 
may have advised, while by violence he hastens pu- 
nishments* for his unavenged hatred. Ire is a brief 
fury f: rule you your mind ; which, unless it obeys, 
commands: this do you restrain with curbs, this do you 
restrain with a chain. The master* forms the horse 
docile with tender neck to go the way in which the 
horseman may show. The hunting whelp, from the 
time at which he has barked-at the stag's skin in the 
hall, serves§ in the woo/ls. Now do you, a boy, imbibe || 
with pure breast wordsll, now offer** you yourself 
to betterft persons. A cask long will preserve the 
odor, with which fresh it once has been imbued. 
But-if you loiter, or strenuous go-before, neither do 
/ wait-for the tardy person, nor press- upon those pre- 
cedingJJ. 



EPISTLE III. 

TO JULIUS FLORUS. 

Julius Florus, in what coasts§§ of the earths C 1 lau~ 
dius|j|j may serve, the step-son of Augustus, /labourf *& 
to know. Whether do the Thracian land, and Hebrus 

* Satisfaction. t Madness. J Breaker. § Hunts. 
Adbibe.— For imbibe. % Maxims. ** Apply. ft Wiser. 
tt A caution to observe a medium between slotb and frowardness. 
§§ Regions. |||| Tiberius Claudius Nero, governor of Syria. 
ITf Desire. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 271 

bound with snowy fetter*, or the straitsf running be- 
tween the neighbouring towers;, or the fat plains and 
hills of Asia delay you ? What works is the studious 
cohort § devising ||? these things also /care-for; who 
takes to himself to write the things carried-on^]" of 
Augustus ? Who diffuses his wars and peaces to a 
long age ? What is Titius devising, in a short time 
about-to-come into Roman mouths**, who became not 
pale-atff draughts of the Pindaric fount||, having 
dared to disdain the lakes, and open rivers §§? How 
is he in health|||| ? how does he remember us ? does he 
study to fit theTheban measures to the Latin strings^, 
the Muse being an assistant ? or does he rage and 
swell in the tragic art ? What is Celsus doing*-)- for 
me ? monished and much to-be-monished, that he 
should seek private riches*^, and avoid to touch*§ the 
writings, whatever the Palatine Apollo*|| has received; 
lest, if haply hereafter the flock of birds shall have 
come to redemand their plumes, the little-crow strip- 
ped-of his furtiye*H colors should move laughterf*, 



* Icy chain. t The Hellespont. % Of Sestos and Abydos. 

§ Court. H Struit. — Is devising, H Achieyements- 

■** Become the subject of Roman conversation. 

tt Expalluit. — Became-pale-at. 

XX Ventured to imitate the style and spirit of Pindar. 

§§ Common topics. |j|| Valet. — Is-in-health. ff Lyres. 

*\ Agit. — Is-doing. *} His own resouices. 

*§ Pillage. *|| The Palatine library round a temple to Apollo, 

*f Stolen. 

t* An allusion to the fable of the crow, or jack-daw, of jEsop. 



272 THE FIRST BOOK OP EPISTLES. 

What do you yourself dare* ? around what thymes 
do you agile flyf ? you have not a small genius, you 
have not an uncultivated genius, nor shamefully 
rough. Whether you whetj your tongue for causes, 
or prepare to respond § civic rights, or compose a 
lovely poem ; you will bear || the first rewards of the 
victorious ivy : but-if you could relinquish the frigid 
fomentations of cares, whither celestial wisdom might 
lead you, you might go. This work, this study let us 
small and great hasten^", if to our country we wish to 
live dear, if to ourselves we wish to live dear. 

You ought also to write-back** this, whether Mu- 
natius is as great a careff to you as JJ it-would-be- 
convenient §§: or does the badly patched reconcilia- 
tion in-vain come-together, and is-torn-again ? Bat 
whether hot blood, or ignorance of things[|| vexes 
you fierce with untamed neck, wherever of places^ 
ye live, unworthy to break the fraternal *f league, a 
votive heifer is-fed against your return. 

* Attempt, 
t The poet compares Florus to the honey-bee, as he does him- 
self. Od. IV. 2. % Prepare. § Expound. 
|| Bear-away. IT Ply. ** Write word, 
tt Concern. tJ Quanta— As-great-as. 
§§ It-would-be-consistent. |||| Of the world. 
1HT In whatever place. *f Friendly. 



THE FHIST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 273 

EPISTLE IV. 

TO ALBIUS TIBULLUS. 

O AxBius, candid judge of our discourses* what now 
shall / say that-you are doing in the region of Pe- 
dum ? shall I say that-you are writing what may 
surpass the little-works of Cassiusf of Parma ? or 
tacit are strolling among the salubrious woods, caring 
whatever is worthy-of a wise and good man ? You 
were not a body without a breast. J The Gods had 
given to you form§, the Gods had given to you 
riches, and the art of enjoying. 

What greater thing can a nurse wish for her sweet 
foster-child, than to-be-wise and that he may be- 
able to speak the things which he may feel||, and 
that favor, and fame, and health may befall him 
abundantly, and a decent living, with a not deficient 
purse ? 

Between hope and care, between fears and 
passions, believe you that-every day has shone for 
you the last : grateful^" will come-upon you the 
hour, which shall not be-expected. 

Me fat and sleek with well cared skin** you 
shall visit, when you shall wish to laugh, a porker ft 
from the herd of Epicurus}!. 

* Satires. + Sat. I. 10. J Soul. § Beauty. || Think. 

IT Agreeable. ** Person. tt Pig- 

XX A contemptuous allusion to the school of Epicurus. 



274 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

EPISTLE V. 

TO TORQTJATTJS. 

If you can as a guest recline on Archian couches*, 
nor fear to sup-on vegetable wholly in a moderate 
dish, O Torquatus, 1 will await you at the last sunf 
at home. You shall drink wines poured-offj Taurus 
again being consul §, between marshy Minturnoe, 
and Petrinum of Sinuessa. But-if you have any- 
thing better, do you send-for it, or bear my com- 
mand[|„ Already the hearth shines, and the furni- 
ture is clean for you. Dismiss you light hopes, and 
the contests of riches^]", and the cause of Moschus** : 
Tomorrow Csesar having been bornf f a festive day 
givesJJ licence and a sleep ; with-impunity it-will- 
be-allowed to extend the summer night with be- 
nign§§ discourse. 

For whatjll is a fortune given to me, if it is not 
conceded^ to use the fortune ? The man sparing 
on-account-of care of an heir, and too severe, sits- 
by *f an insane man. I will begin to drink, and scat- 



* Couches of Archias's old-fashioned make. t Till sun-set- 

I Racked off. § When Taurus was consul the second time. 

|| Put up with my order. IT Struggles for riches. 

** A client. tt On account of Caesar's birth. JJ Admits of. 

§§ Friendly. |||| Quo.— For quoi, and that for cui. 

1T1T Conceditur. — It-is-conceded. *t Is next to. 



THE FIRST BOOK OP EPISTLES. 275 

ter flowers, and suffer to be-held even inconsiderate. 
What does not ebriety design ? it discloses things 
covered ; it commands hopes to be ratified ; it thrusts 
into battles the inert man; it takes-away the burden 
from solicitous minds ; it teaches arts : whom have 
not fertilizing chalices* made eloquent? whom 
have they not made free in contracted poverty ? 

These things I both serviceable, and not unwil- 
ling, am-commandedt to procurej : that-not a dirty 
coverlet, that-not a sordid napkin should wrinkle 
your nostrils § ; lest both the cantharus || and dish 
should not show you to yourself^! ; lest among faith- 
ful friends anyone ' should be, who may carry-out 
abroad things said; that an equal person may meet 
and be-joined to an equal person. I will add- to 
you Butra, and Septicius, and Sabinus, unless a prior 
supper**, and a more-engaging girl, detains him : 
a place there isff also for many shadowsJJ; but too 
crowded entertainments smelling rammishnesses 
press §§. 

Do you write-back |||| , of-how-many you would 
wish to be ^j f ; and, businesses being omitted*f, by 
the postern door*% deceive you your client keeping 
the halls*§. 

* Cups. t Charge thyself. % Provide. 

§ Make you curl your nose in disgust. || Od. I. 20. 

IT Reflect your face. ** Invitation to supper. ft There is room. 

XX Sat. II. 8. §§ Oppress. |||j Write word. 

1T1T How many you will bring with you. *t Intermitted. 

*% Back-door. *§ Watching the hall. 



276 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 



EPISTLE VI. 

TO NUMICIUS. 

To admire* nothing almost is the one and only 
thing, Numicius, which can make and keep a man 
happy. 

There are some, who imbued with no dread can 
view this sun, and stars, and seasons departing at 
certain moments : what do you think-of the gifts 
of the earth ? what do you think-of the gifts of the 
sea enriching the extreme Arabians and Indians ? 
what do you think of the games, and applauses, and 
gifts of the friendly Quirisf ? In what manner do 
you think that4hey are to-be-viewed, with what 
feeling and countenance ? 

He who fears things adverse to these things, almost 
admires J in the same manner in which the per- 
son desiring ; fear is on-both-sides troublesome, as- 
soon-as an unforeseen sight terrifies each. Whether 
he may rejoice, or grieve ; whether he may desire or 
fear ; what is-it to the purpose, if, whatever he has 
seen better or worse than his expectation, with 
down-fixed eyes he is-torpid § both in mind and 
body ? Let the wise man bear the name of an 

* Be struck with, affected by. t Od. I. 1. 

% Is struck, affected. § Is numb with amazement. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 277 

insane man, let the just man bear the name of an 
unjust man, if he should seek virtue itself farther 
than is sufficient.* 

Go you now, do you look-upon silver, and ancient 
marble and brassesf and artsj, with gems admire 
you. Tyrian colors : rejoice you, because a thou- 
sand eyes behold you speaking§ : do you active in- 
the-morning seek the forum, and in-the-evening 
seek you your house ; lest Mutus should mow more 
corn f:'om|| his dotal fields, and, (an unworthy thing, 
since he sprang from worse parents,) he should 
be rather to-be-admired by you, than you should be 
to-be-admired by him: whatever is under the 
earth %, time will bring-forth into light, it will dig- 
down** and conceal shiningft things ; though the 
portico of A grippal!, and the way of Appius§§ 
may have beheld you well known, yet it-remains 
that-you should go where Numa has descended 
and AncusU||. 

If your side or reins are- tried by acute disease, 
seek you an escape %^ of the disease. Do you wish 
rightly to live? who does not wish it 1 if virtue 
alone can give this, do you brave ply this, delights 
being omitted*f. Should you think that-virtue is 

* Beyond raoderai ion. + Bronzes. t Works of art. 

$ Pleading. | Emetat. — Mow-from. IT Is buried. ** Bury. 

tt Conspicuous. J J A promenade. 

§§ A fashionable drive. |||| Od. IV. 7. HIT A cure. 

*t The delights of sense being laid aside. 

li B 



278 THE FI£ST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

words, as you think that-a-grove is trees ? beware 
you lest another should occupy * the ports ; lest you 
may lose your Cybratic negotiations, lest you may 
lose your Bithynian negotiations ; let a thousand 
talents be-rounded : let so-many other talents more- 
over, and so-many third thousand talents succeed, 
and the part which may square the heap. Doubtless 
queen Pecuniaf gives a wife with a dowry, and 
faith, and friends, and family, and form ; and Sua- 
dela + decorates the well monied man, and Venus. 
The King of the Cappadocians rich in slaves wants 
brassf: you should not have been he§. Lucullus, 
as they say, having been asked if he could afford a 
hundred cloaks for the scene ||, " How can / afford so- 
many cloaks ? " he says ; "however /even will- in- 
quire, and as-many cloaks as ^ / shall have, / will 
send:" after a little he writes, that he had five 
thousand cloaks at home ; he ** might take a part, or 
all the cloaks. The house is empty, where even 
many things are not over ++, and elude the master, and 
profit thieves. Therefore, if wealth alone can make 
and keep a man happy, first you should resume this 
work, last you should omit JJ this work. 

If show and favor makes a fortunate man] let us 
purchase a slave, who can dictate the names §§, who 

* Preoccupy. t Money. % Persuasion. 

§ Be not you like him. || Stage. 1F Quot — As-many-as. 

** The borrower. tt Supersunt— Are-over. 

it Intermit. §§ Tell the citizens' names. 



THE FIRST BOOK OP EPISTLES. 279 

can jog our left side*, and force us f to extend 
our righthand \ across burdens : § " This || man much 
avails % in the Fabian tribe, that man avails % in 
the Veline tribe ; to whom it-pleases, he will give 
the fasces**, and take-away the curule ivoryff, from 
whom he shall wish, importunate : Brother, O 
Father, add you, as the age of each is, so each do you 
facetious adopt. " 

If he, who sups well, lives well, it-is-light,Jt let us 
go, where the gullet §§ leads : let us fish, let us hunt : 
as formerly Garglius, who in-the-morning ordered 
nets, and hunting-spears, and slaves, to pass-through 
the stuffed forum and the people, that one mule, out- of 
many mules, might carry-back, the people beholding, 
a purchased boar. Crude ||| and tumid UH let us be- 
laved*f, forgetful what may be-decent, what may not 
be-decent, worth y-of the wax of Csere*f, like the vici- 
ous crew of Ithacensian Ulysses, to which interdicted 
pleasure *§ was more-potent *|| than their country. 



* Walk on his master's left side and touch it to direct his attention. 

t From regard to our interests. % To citizens. 

§ Any obstructions on the way. 

II This, §-c. — The words of the nomenclator. 1T Is of great influence. 

* * Od. I. 12. t-t Seat of ivory— a chair of state. tt It is day. 
§§ Appetite. |||| Dyspeptic. ITU With full stomach. *t Bathe. 

*t The waxen tablet in which the people of Ccere were inscribed, 
as without right of suffrage— disfranchisement. 

*§ The cups of Circe, and the songs of the Sirens. 
*|| More desirable- 



2W THE FIRST BOOK OP EPISTLES. 

If, as Mimnerimus * thinks, without love and jokes 
nothing is pleasant; you should live in love and 
jokes. 

Live you, farewell you : if you have known any- 
thing more-right than these things^, candid impart 
you it, if not, use you these things with-me. 



EPISTLE VII. 

TO MAECENAS. 

Having promised to you that-I was about-to-be 
five days in the country, / false am-desired + the 
whole-of Sextilis. § But, if you wish that-I should 
live and wish to see me rightly || in-health, the in- 
dulgence which you give to me sick, you will give 
to me fearing to be sick, Maecenas : while the first 
fig and the heat If decorates the designator** with 
black lictors +f ; while every father and mother pales 
for their children : and officious sedulity. %% and foren- 
sic work §§ briiigs-on fevers, and unseals testa- 

* An amatory poet. f Maxims. J Am missed. 

§ Tlie sixth month, beginning with March — August. H Well. 

^T Descriptive of Autumn — a sickly season. 

** Undertaker. tt Attendants. %% Attention to duties. 

§§ Attendance at the forum. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 281 

merits*. But-if winter shall lay snows over f the 
Alban fields, your poet will descend to the sea, and 
spare himself, and contracted \ read : you, O sweet 
friend, he will revisit with the Zephyrs, if you will 
concede, and with the first swallow. 

You have not made me rich, in the manner in 
which the Calabrian host § bids his guest to eat 
pears. 

Host. — Eat you, I-pray. 

Guest. — Now /have sufficient. 

Host. — But do you take as-much-as-you-wish. 

Guest. — Benignly||. 

Host. — You will carry little-presents not unwel- 
come to little boys. 

Guest. — As-much / am-obliged by the gift, as if 
/ should be-dismissed loaded. 

Host. — As it-pleases : you relinquish these things 
to-be-eat-up today by porkers. 51 

The prodigal and foolish man gives those thi?igs, 
which he spurns and hates. 

This land** has borne ungrateful persons, and will 
bear in all years. A man good and wise says that-he 
is preparedff for worthy persons ; nor yet/ae is-igno- 
rant, as- to what brasses^* may differ from lupines. §§ 

* Wills. t Illinet. — Lay over. % Sequestered. 

§ As if the Calabrians were notoriously uncouth. 

|| You are obliging. IT Pigs. ** The above class with their gifts. 

tt Paratus. — For paratum — a Grecism. JJ Coins. 

§ Used for counters— counterfeits. 

b b 3 



282 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

/ will prove myself worthy also according-to the 
merit of the deserving person. But-if you shall be- 
unwilling that-I any where should depart, you will 
restore my strong side*, and black hairs on my nar- 
row front f; you will restore to speak sweetly + ; 
you will restore to laugh decorously§, and among 
wines to mourn the flight of the wanton Cinara. 

By-chance a thin field-mouse had crept through a 
narrow chink into a chest of corn ; and, having been 
fed ||, again did strain to go abroad with a full body* 
in-vain: to which a weasel at-a-distance says, "If 
you wish to escape thence, lean you will reseek to the 
narrow hole, whichlean you have entered." If I am- 
accosted by this imaged, / resign all things : neither 
do /praise the sleep of the people, sated- with altilia**, 
nor change most-free easeff for the riches of the 
Arabians. Often you have praised me modest; both 
king and father you have heard|| openly§§, nor by 
a word more-sparingly absent : inspect |j|| you, if / 
cheerful can replace^ the things given. Not badly 
Telemachus, offspring of patient Ulysses, replied : 
" Ithace*-|- is not a place apt for horses ; as neither 
extended in plain spaces, nor prodigal*! of much 
herb*§ : Strides, / will relinquish your gifts more 

* Strength of body. + Youthfu 1 . appearance. % My sweet speech. 

§ My graceful smile. || Having fed itself. *T Fable. 

** Fattened fowls — delicacies. 

tt Of <a.— Plural number. tt Have been called. 

§§ In your presence. |||| See. INT Restore. *t Ithaca. 

*J Productive. *§ Grass. 



THE FIRST HOOK OF EPISTLES. 283 

apt for yourself." Small things become a small per- 
son: me now not kingly Rome, but vacant Tibur 
pleases, or unwarlike Tarentum. 

Philippus * strenuous and strong, and illustrious 
in pleading causes, while he returns from duties 
about the eighth hour f, and, now great in age, com- 
plains that-CarinaeJ is too distant§ from the forum, 
beheld, as they say, a certain-one shaved-off in the 
vacant shed of a barber gently || purging his-own nails 
with a little-knife. " O Demetrius," (this slave not 
lightly accepted the commands of Philippus*)/* go- 
away you, inquire you, and report, from-what^ 
house he may be, who he may be, of what fortune he 
may be, of what father he may be, or what patron." 
He goes, he returns, and narrates, that-he is Vul- 
teius Mena by name, a praeco**,' of slender income, 
known without crime, and that-he could hastenff in 
placed, and idle, and get, and use, delighting§§both 
in humble companions, and a certain|||| dwelling, and 
games, and, after negotiations decided^IH, the Cam- 
pus*!. 

" It-pleases me to inquire from himself, whatever 
things you report: tell you him that he should come 

* Philip. t Two o'clock afternoon. 

% Apart of Rome in which Philip lived. § Distare.— Is-distant. 

|] Composedly. 11 Unde. — For ex qua. 

**Sat.I6. If Despatch. %% On occasion. 

§§ Enjoying himself. |||| Fixed. ITf After business ended. 

*t Campus Martius. 



284 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

to supper." Meria could not truly believe : tacit 
he began to wonder with-himself . Why should I say 
many words ? " Benignly*," he responds. 

Philippus. — Can he denyf me ? 

Demetrius. — He impious denies*, and neglects, or 
dreads you. In-the-morning Philippus surprises 
Vulteius selling vile fripperies to the tuniced popu- 
lace, and first bids him be-well§. He began to ex- 
cuse labor, and mercenary obligations |], because he 
had not come in-the-morning to his house ; finally 
because he had not before-seen^I him. 

Philippus. — Thus reckon you that-I have par- 
doned you, if you slip today with-me. 

Vulteius. — As it-pleases you. 

Philippus. — Then after the ninth hour** you will 
come ; now go you, strenuous augment you your pro- 
perty. 

When it was come ff to supper, having spoken 
things to-be-said and to-be-tacit-respecting, Xt at- 
length he is-dismissed to sleep. This man, when often 
seen like a fish to run-down to the occult §§ hook t in- 
the-morning a clientj] and now a certain guest, is- 
bidden to go as a companion to his suburban fields 
at the proclaimed Latin holidays,. Put-upon«y^I horses, 

* See above. t Refuse. J Refuses. § Good morning. 

|| Obligations of business. IT First seen. 

** After three o'clock in the afternoon. The Romans supped so 

early. tt They were come. 

I Public and private. §§ Concealed. 11 1| At Philips levee. 

1Tf Mounted on. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 285 

lie does not cease to praise the Sabine land and sky. 
Philippus* sees, and laughs : and, while for himself 
he seeks relaxation, while he seeks laughs on-every- 
side, while he gives him seven sester^iaf, while he 
promises seven sesterliaf lent, he persuades, that 
he should purchase a little-field.]; He purchases: 
that / may not § delay you by long preambles, 
farther than is sufficient ; from a neat citizen he 
becomes a rustic, and chatters-of furrows and mere 
vineyards, he prepares elms,|| he dies-over ^f his stu- 
dies **, and becomes-old from the love of having. ff 
But when his sheep were-lost by theft, ichen his 
goats perished by disease, when his crop mocked 
his hope, when his ox was killed-out in ploughing ; 
offended by his losses, at the middle-of the night 
he seized-on his nag, and enraged goes to the 
house XX of Philippus :* whom as-soon-as Philip- 
pus* beheld rough and unshaven, he says, " O Vul- 
teius, you seem to me to be too hard,§§ and attentive." 
4< By-Pollux, HI patron, you should call me miserable, 
if you should wish, he says, to put^Hl" to me a true 
name. Wherefore you by your Genius, and right- 

* See above. + Sat. I. 3. 

X Small farm. § Ne— That-not. 

|| For binding vines to them — he strips off the boughs. 

IT Pines over. ** Pursuits. 

tf Gets care-worn from the desire of possessing. 

JJ JEdes.— Plural number. §§ Hard-working. 

|| || Pol.— For per Pollucem. HIT Give. 



286 THE FIRST BOOK OP EPISTLES. 

hand, and Gods the Penates,* / beseech and en- 
treat, restore you me to my former lifef." 

He who once has beheld % how-much the things 
dismissed § excel those sought, maturely || should 
return, and reseek the things relinquished. 

It-is a truth, that-every-one should measure 51 
himself** by his -own moduleff, and fooUJ. 



EPISTLE VIII. 

TO CELSUS ALB1NOVANUS. 

Muse, having been asked, tell you Celsus Albi- 
novanus, the companion and scribe of Nero, to 
rejoice, and well manage his business. §§ If he 
should inquire, what /may be-doing, say you, that- 
I threatening || || many and fine things, live nei- 
ther lightlyTIH, nor sweetly*+: not because the 
hail may have crushed my vines, or the heat 
may have bitten*:J: my olive, nor because my 
herd may be-sick in distant fields ; but because, 
less strong in mind, than in my whole body, / am- 



* Od. II. 4. t Course of life. \ Perceived. § Discarded. 

|| In time. H Judge. ** His station. 

ft Standard— temper. ^ \\ Last — capacity. 

§§ Bear you, to &c, the wish of joy, and success. U H Promising. 

ITf Well. *t Agreeably. *\ Nipped. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 287 

willing to hear nothing, / am-willing to learn no- 
thing, which may alleviate me ill; because I am- 
offended with my faithful physicians, because I 
am-angry with my friends, that they should hasten 
to ward* me from a deadly lethargy; because I 
follow those things which have hurt; because 1 
flee those things which / may believe would pro- 
fit ; because at Rome / changeable-as-the-wind f 
love Tibur, because at Tibur / love Rome. 

After these things, inquire you how he may-be- 
in-health, in what manner he may manage his busi- 
ness, and himself; how he 'may please the young- 
man Z, and how the cohort§. If he shall say, 
" Rightly || ;" firstly bid you him to rejoice^]"; 
afterwards remember you to instil this precept in 
his ears : " As you shall bear fortune, so we will 
bear you, O Celsus." 



EPISTLE IX. 

TO CLAUDIUS NERO. 

Septimius alone, Claudius, undoubtedly under- 
stands how-much you may esteem me : for, when 
he asks, and by prayer compels indeed, that / 

* Rouse. t Capricious. I Tiberius. § Court. || Well. 
IT Give you him my greetings. 



288 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

should enleavour to laud and commend* him to 
you, as worthy-of the mind f and house of Nero 
selecting honest things, \ when he thinks that-I 
discharge the office of a nearer§ friend, he sees and 
knows better than I myself what i" can do. 

Indeed I said many things, why I excused 
should depart : but feared, lest / should be- 
thought to have feigned minor things\\ : a dissem- 
bler of my proper power, accommodating to myself 
alone. Thus I, fleeing the reproaches of a greater 
fault, have descended to the rewards of an urban 
front %. But, if you laud shame put-aside for the 
commands of a friend, write** you him of your 
flockft, and believe him brave and good. 



EPISTLE X. 

TO FUSCUS ARISTIUS. 

We lovers of the country bid % + Fuscus a lover 
of the city to be-well §§ : in this one thing truly 
much dissimilar, as-to other things almost twins of 
fraternal minds : whatever the one denies, also the 

* Recommend and introduce. t Heart. 

J Honourable chaiacters. § More intimate. 

|| Represented my influence less than it was. 
IT An allusion to competitors who descended to the Campus Mar- 
tius, to stand for the prizes of honor — have come down, been 
driven to the honors of civic effrontery. 
** Enrol. tt Retinue. J I Wish. §§ Health. 



TIIE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 289 

other denies : we assent, equally, as old and known* 
doves. You keep the nestf, I laud the rivers of the 
pleasant country, and the rocks overlaid with moss, 
and the grove. Why do you inquire 1 1 live and 
reign \, as-soon as T have relinquished those 
things, which ye extol to the heaven with favourable 
rumor§, and as the fugitive slave of a priest / re- 
fuse cakes : I desire bread, now better than honied 
cakes ||. 

If it-is-fit to live conveniently^]" to nature, and an 
area is to-be-sought firstly for a house to-be-placed, 
whether do you know a place better than the blest 
country ? Is there a place where winters are more 
tepid**? where a more-grateful breeze can alleviate 
both the rage of the Dogff, and the moments|J 
of the Lion §§, when once he furious has received 
the acute |||| sun ? Is there a place where invidious 
care can drive-awav bleeps less? Does the herb smell 
or shine worse than the Libyan pebbles*^ ? Does 
purer water in the streets*t strain to burst the lead*|, 



* Well known. t City. 

I lam alive and a king. 
§ Acclamation. 
|| I renounce the city, as the slave of a priest loathes the sacrificial 
cakes, and runs away to feed on plain bread. 

IT Conformably. ** Mild. 

tt The Dog-star. XX Seasons. 

§§ Od. III. 29. ., OH Piercing. 

IWTs the grass less sweet or beautiful than the Libyan marbles \ 

*t Of Rome. *J Leaden pipes. 

C C 



290 THE FIRST EOOK OF EFISTLES. 

than that which trembles with a murmur through 
the prone river ? Doubtless a wood is-nourished 
among various* columns, and a house is-lauded, 
which looks-upon long fields. You shall expel nature 
with a fork f , yet continually she will recur, and 
furtively:}: burst-through bad fastidiousnesses a con- 
queress. 

Notfo, who knows-not skilful§ that-fleeces drink- 
ing the dye of Aquinum contend || with the Sido- 
nian purple, more-certainly will receive loss, or 
nearer to his marrowy, than he who shall not be- 
able to distinguish falsehood from truth. Him 
whom prosperous circumstances have delighted more 
than too-much**, changed circumstances will shakeft : 
if you shall admire anything, you will resign it 
unwilling : flee you great things : it-is-permitted 
under a poor roof to outstrip in lifejt kings and the 
friends of kings. 

The stag, better§§ in fight, did drive the horse from 
the common herbs|j||, until lessen in the long contest 
he implored the aid*+ of man, and received the 
bridle : but, after-that he a victor violent departed*:}: 

* Variegated. t By force. 

I Insensibly. § Is not so skilful as to know. || Vie. 
V That will go nearer to his heart. ** Od. I. 33. 

tf Shock. 
It A happy life. §§ Superior. 
II J| Pastures. W Inferior- 

*t Opes. — Plural number. 
*t Came off an exulting victor. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 29L 

from the enemy, he cast not down* the horseman 
from his back, he cast not down* f the bridle from 
his mouth. So he who, fearing poverty, wants 
liberty better § than metals, impious shall carry a 
master, and serve eternally, because he will not- 
know-how to use|| a little. To him to whom his-own 
state shall not be-convenient^f, it will be as a shoe 
sometimes, which if it shall be greater than the 
foot, it will subvert**; if less, it will gall. Cheerfulff 
with your lot you will live wisely, O Aristius ; nor 
dismiss me uncastigated, when / shall seem to collect 
more things than is sufficient, and not cease. Col- 
lected money commands, or serves each, worthy to 
follow, rather than lead the twisted ropeJJ. 

These things I did dictate behind the putrid §§ 
fane of Vacuna|j||, it being excepted that you 
were not together with me, as-to other things 
cheerful. 



EPISTLE XI. 

TO BULLATIUS. 

How has Chios seemed to you, Bullatius, and 
known Lesbos ? How has neat Samos seemed to you f 

* Could not cast down. \ Depulit. — Cast-down. 

§ More precious. || Enjoy. ^ Be suitable. ** Trip, 

tt If you are cheerful. 
%X A metaphor taken from beasts, who are led with a rope. 
§§ Mouldering. II || The Goddess of vacations. 



292 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

how has the regal-residence of Croesus* seemed to 
you ? How has Smyrna seemed to you, and Golophon ? 
Have they seemed greater or less than fame ? Are 
they all sordidf in-comparison-of the Campus J and 
the Tiberine river ? Whether does one of the cities 
of Attalus come into your wish§ ? or do you laud 
Lebedus, from hatred of the sea and ways |j ? cl You 
know, what Lebedus is ; a village more-deserted than 
Gabii and Fidence ; yet there / could wish to live, 
and forgetful of my friends, and to-be-forgotten 
by them, view Neptune^" raging far from land." 
But neither will he who from Capua goes to Rome, 
aspersed** with rain and mud, wish to live in an 
innff ; nor does he, who has collected XX a cold, land 
stoves andbaths§§, as fully affording a fortunate life. 
Nor, if valid Auster[|| shall have tossed you in the 
deep, therefore should you sell your ship on-the- 
farther-side the iEgean sea^f^j. For a sound man 
Ehodes and beautiful Mitylene dces*f that, which a 
cloak at the solstice*! does'^f , the campestrian cover- 
ing*^ in snowy breezes dces*f, through winter the 



* Sardis, the old capital of Lydia — the scat of Croesus's empire. 

t Sordsnt. — Are-sordid — are mean. J Campus Martius. 

§ Suit ;,our wish. || Dislike of journeying by sea and land. 

IT The sea. ** Bespattered. 

t r Because he can there change his clothes. +j Contracted. 

§§ Because he finds them useful for the occasion. 

III! Od. II. 14. "TIT And thus preclude your return. 

*t Effects. *J Summer solstice. 

*§ Drawers worn by those who contended in the Campus Martius. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 293 

Tiber does*, in the month of Sextilis+ astove does*. 
While it-is-permitted, and Fortune preserves a be- 
nign countenance, at Rome let Samos be-lauded, and 
Chios, and absent KhodesJ. 

Do you take with grateful hand, whatever hour 
the God § shall have bestowed-on you; nor defer 
sweet things for a year ; that, in whatever place you 
shall have been, you may say that-you have lived 
pleasantly : for if reason and prudence, not a place 
master of|| the widely outspread sea, takesaway cares; 
they change their sky, not their mind, who run across 
the sea. A strenuous inertness^ exercises us : 
by ships and four-horse-cars we seek to live well :** 
what you seek, is here, is at Ulubraeff, if an equal££ 
mind§§ does not desert you. 



EPISTLE XII. 

TO ICCIUS. 

O Iccius, if rightly you enjoy the Sicilian fruits of 
Agrippa, which you collect ||j|, it is not possible^ 
that greater plenty can be-given by Jupiter to you : 
do you take-away complaints; for he is not poor, to 
whom the use of things*t is-supplied. If it-is well 

* Effects. + Ep. I. 7. t That is, keep at hope. 

§ Providence. || Commanding a view of. 1T Inefficacy. 

** Happily. tt A poor deserted place, in the Pomptine fens. 

tt Even. -§§ Temper. |||| Iccius was agent to Agrippa- 

1F1T Est.— It-is-possible. *t Necessaries. 

cc3 



294 THE FIRST HOOK OF EPISTLES. 

for your belly*, if it-is well for your sidef, and your 
feet, regal riches will be-able to add nothing greater. 
If haply in the midst of things put before you you 
abstemious live on herbs, and shell-fish, so you will 
live henceforth, though a liquid river of fortune 
forthwith should gild you over|: either because money 
knows-not-how to change nature, or because you 
reckon all things less than§ virtue alone. Do we 
wonder, if cattle eats the fields and cultivated- lands 
of Democritus||, while his nimble mind is abroad 
without his bodyfi ? when you among so-great an itch 
and contagions of lucre can taste** nothing small, and 
still care -for sublime things : what causes may con- 
fine the sea ; what may temper the year; whether 
the stars of their-own accord or commandedtf wander 
and are-erratic : what may press^J the obscure orb of 
the Moon, what may bring-forth the orb ; what the 
discordant concord of things§§may will|j|| and can-do; 
whether EmpedocleslHl, or tne acumen*f of Sterti- 
nius*J may err. 



* Stomach. t Lungs. t Inauret.— Gild-over. 

§ Inferior to. || The philosopher. 

1T A Platonic notion, that while the mind is employed in medita- 
tion, it is disengaged from the body. 

** Relish. ft Conformably to prescribed laws. 

It Suppress. 
§§ The jarring elements harmoniously combined. 
IHI Mean. 
1HT A philosopher, who mixed the new elements of concord and 
discord among the four old ones of other philosophers. 
*t Subtle wit. *+ Sat. II. 3. 



THE FTRST BOOK OF EPTSTLES. 295 

But whether you murder* fishes, or leek, and 
onion, usef you Porapeius Grosphus ; and, if he shall 
ask anything voluntarily, confer you it : Grosphus 
will ask nothing unless just and equalj. Cheap is 
the market of friends§, where anything is wanting 
to good men\\. 

Lest however you should be-ignorant, in what 
placed the Roman state may be : the Cantabrian 
has fallen by the valor of Agrippa, the Armenian 
has fallen by the valor of Claudius Nero : Phraates 
less by the knees** has accepted")"}" the right and em- 
pire of Caesar: golden Plenty has diffused the fruits 
of Italy from a full horn. 



EPISTLE XIII. 

TO VINITJS ASELLA. 

As / have taught you setting-out often and long, you 
shall renderj+ the sealed volumes to Augustus, 
Vinius, if he shall be in-health, if he shall be cheer- 
ful, if finally he shall ask-for them; lest from zeal of 
us you should offend, and a sedulous§§ minister||| by 

* In ridicule of the Pythagorean doctrine that human souls passed 
into the bodies of animals and plants. 

Lt Entertain. J Reasonable. 

§ Friends may be purchased at a low rate. 
|| Because they are modest and reasonable. 
IT Situation. ** On his knees , tt Admitted. 

tt Deliver. §§ Officious. II || Servant. 



296 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

vehement* laborf bring odium upon J my little- 
books. If haply the heavy burden of my paper shall 
gall you, do you cast it away§ rather, than you rude 
should throw the panniers upon|| the place, where 
you are-ordered to carry them, and turn the paternal 
surname of Asina^I into ridicule, and become a 
fable**. You will use your strengtlrH* over hills, over 
rivers, over fens ; as-soon -as victor JJ of your pur- 
pose you shall have arrived thither, you will keep 
the burden thus placed§§, lest haply you should carry 
under your wing|||| the packet of books, as a rustic car- 
ries a lamb; as wine-loving Pyrrhiainf carries balls 
offurtive*f wool; as with his cap*j a tribe guest*§ 
carries his slippers*||. And you should not*^[ vulgarly 
narrate that-you sweated in carrying verses, which 
may be-able to delayf* the eyes and ears of Caesar : 
asked with much prayer, do you proceed on. Go 
you, farewell you : do you take-care lest you should 
stumble, and break my commands. 

* Violent. t Exertion. % Importes. — Bring-upon. 

§ Abjicito. —Cast-away. || Impingat. — Throw-upon. 

IT Horace puns upon the word Asina, which, beside being a proper 
name, signifies an ass. 

** Talk. tt Op ibus.— Plural number. J J Effector. 

§§ As I shewed you. HI] Arm. 

1TH A dramatic character, who stole wool, and was detected by her 
mode of carrying it. 

*t Stolen. *J For bad weather, or against the night air. 

*§ One going to a feast of his own tribe, or ward. 

*| To put on, after putting off his shoes, on entering the banquet- 
ing house. 

*1T Ne.— And-not. t* Arrest. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 297 

EPISTLE XIV. 

TO HIS STEWARD, 

O steward of my woods and little-field restoring me 
to myself, which you disdain, though inhabited by 
five hearths*, and accustomed to dismissf five good 
fathers^ to Varia; let us strive, whether I better 
can pluck-out the thorns from my mind, or you can 
pluck-out the thorns from my field; and whether 
Horatius may be better, or his estate. 

Though piety and care of Lamia §, mourning a 
brother, grieving inconsolably concerning a brother 
snatched- away||, delays me; yet thither my mind. 
and soul carries me, and loves to burst the barriers 
withstanding the spaces^. I say that-the-man liv- 
ing in the country is blest, you say that-the-man liv- 
ing in the city is blest. 

To him whom the lot of another pleases, his-own 
lot doubtless is an-object-of-hatred. Each foolish 
blames the undeserving** place unequallyff ; the 
mind is in blame, which not ever escapes itself. 
You a middle -slave;;}; did seek the country§§ with 
tacit prayer; now a steward you desire the city, and 
games, and baths : you know that-I am-constant to 

* Families. t Return. J Od. Ill 5. 

§ Affection and concern for Lamia. Od. I. 26. || By death. 
IT My course. ** Undeserving of blame, innocent. 

tt Unreasonably. JJ House slave in town, 

§§ Ritra — Plural number. 



298 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

myself*, and depart sad, whenever hated negotia- 
tions draw me to Rome. We do not admire the same 
things ; therefore there-is-a-disagreement between 
both me and you : for, the places which you think 
desert and inhospitable wilds, he calls pleasant, who 
thinks with-me, and hates the places which you think 
beautiful : the brothel and greasy cook-shop strike- 
intc youf a desire of the city, / see ; and because 
that angle will bear pepper and frankincense sooner J 
than the grape ; nor a neighbouring tavern is-near, 
which can supply wine to you : nor a courtesan a 
female-flutist, to the noise of whom you may dance 
heavy to the earth : and yet you urge§ the fields 
now-long-ago not touched by spades, and take-care-of 
the ox unyoked, and fill him up |J with stript leaves : 
the river adds work for you listless, if a shower falls- 
down, to-be-taught by many a mole to spare the 
sunny meadow. 

Now, come you, hear you, what divides^! our con- 
cert**. Me whom fine gowns and sleek hairs have 
become, whom you know without-a-present to hare 
pleased rapaciousff Cinara, whom you have known 
drinking liquid Falernian wine from the middle-of 
the lightjj, a brief supper delights, and a sleep near 
a river in the herb§§ : nor does-it-shame me to have 
played||||, but not to cut-off^I play*f. Not there 



* Am consistent with myself. t Inspire you with. J Rather. 

§ Work. || Exples— Fill-up. 1T Interrupts. 

** Agreement. tt Mercenary. }{ Day- §§ Grass. 

|||| To have been -nil*. HIT Break off. *t Wildness. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 299 

with oblique * eye anyone files f niy advan- 
tages X ; not by hatred and obscure bite § anyone 
envenoms: the neighbours ridicule me moving the 
clods and stones. With slaves do you rather-wish to 
gnaw urban || daily-allowances? Do you in wish 
rush into the number^ of these ? The artful slave 
envies you the use of the wood**, and cattle { J, and 
garden§§. The slow ox desires horse-trappings; 
the horse desires to plough : / shall think, that 
each willing |||| should exercise the art which he 
knows^. 



EPISTLE XV. 

TO NUMONIUS VALA. 

What*! the winter may be at Velia, what*f the 
climate may be, O Vala, at Salernum, of what men 
the region may be*%, and what-sort the way may be; 
(for Musa Antonius*§ thinks that-Baiee*|| is superva- 
caneous*H to me, and yet makes me hated by itf*, 

* Envious. 
+ Wastes. It was an ancient superstition, that an envious eye 
could affect what it looked upon. 

t Comforts. § Slander. || City. 

IT Wish ardently to he of the number. 

** Lignorum —Plural number, tt Firing. JI Milk. 

§§ Produce of the garden. |||| Content. 1T1T Understands. 

*+ What sort. 

*t Of what sort of inhabitants the country consists. 

*§ A physician. *j| Where there were warm baths. 

*^T Of no service. +* Illis.— Plural number. 



300 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

when I am-bathed in the cold wave through the 
middle-of the cold. Truly the village bemoans that- 
the-myrtle-groves are-relinquished, and the sul- 
phurs* said to expel from the nerves the lingering 
disease are-contemned, envying the sick persons, 
who dare to put their head and stomach underf the 
Clusine fountains,:}: and seek Gabii, and the frigid 
countries. The place is to-be-changed, and the horse 
is to-be-driv en-past the known inns: "Whither are 
you tending § ? I have not a journey to Cumse, or 
Baise," the choleric horseman will say with the left 
rein|| : but the ear of the horse is in his bitted 
mouthy :) which people a greater abundance of 
corn may feed ; whether they drink collected 
showers,** or whether perennial wells of perpetual 
water ; (for nothing do / value the wines of that 
coast : in my country /can endure and suffer any- 
thing ; when / have come to the sea, / require 
generous and mild wine, which may drive-away cares, 
which with rich hope may flow into my veins and my 
soul, which may minister words, which may commend 
me youngtf to my Lucanian mistress :) which tract 
may bring-up the more hares, which tract may bring- 
up the more boars : which seas more may conceal fishes 



* With which the waters were impregnated, 
t Supponere. — To put-under. J Springs of Clusium. 

§ Tendis. — Are-tending. |i Pulling the left lein. 

1T He takes his rider's directions by the mouth. 
** Rain-water collected in cisterns, 
ft Recommend me with the attractions of youth. 



THE FIRST BOOK OP EPISTLES. 30l 

and sea-urchins, that thence / may return home fat 
and a Phseacian* ; it-is fit, that-you write to us, 
and that-we accredit youf. 

MseniusJ, when, maternal estates and paternal 
estates being boldly consumed, he began to be-held 
urbane§, a wandering cit, who held not a certain 
stall||, who not~dined^I could not discern a citizen 
from an enemy,** severe to forge any reproaches 
against anyone, the destruction,!! and tempestff , 
and abysaff of the market, did give to his avaricious 
belly, whatever he had acquired. This man, when 
he had carried-off nothing or little from the favourers 
of his naughtiness and those timid JJ, did sup-on 
dishes of tripe, and vile lamb, what might be suffi- 
cient for three bears : forsooth that, a corrector Bes- 
tius§§, he might say that-the-bellies of spendthrifts 
ought to-be-burned with a red-hot plate. The same 
man, when he had turned into smoke and ashes||| 
every thing, whatever he had got, of greater prey, 
did say, "/do not by-Hercules wonder, if any eat-up 

* Like Alcinous, king of the Phasacians, proverbial for his luxu- 
rious living 

t Scribere est.— The natural construction of the Epistle begins 

with this line. 

J Sat. I. I, 3. § Be esteemed a man of fashion. 

|| Had no certain abode. IT When dinnerless. 

** Made no distinction between friend and enemy — his one object 
being to get a dinner. 
ft A liyperbo'ical expression, representative of excessive gluttony. 
U Afraid of him. §§ Like reformer Bestius. 

Illl Reduced to nothing. 

DD 



302 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

their goods*; since nothing is better than a fat 
thrush, nothing is finer than an ample paunchf." 
Doubtless I am hej : for / laud safe and very-small 
thing s%, when means are-deficient, sufficiently brave|| 
among vile things %: but, when anything better and 
more-savoury befalls, / the same say that-you are- 
wise, and alone live well, whose money is-beheld 
funded** in neat villas. 



EPISTLE XVI. 

TO QUINCTIUS. 

That you may notff inquire, whether my farm, O 
best Quinctius, feeds J J its master by arable-land, or 
makes him opulent§§ by the berries of the olive, 
whether by apples, or meadows, or the elm enwrap- 
ped with vines : the form shall be-described to you 
loquaciously|||], and the site of the land. 

There are continuous mountains, except that they 
are-dissociated^ by an opaque*+ valley; but so- 
that the coming sun beholds the right side, and the 
departing sun warms the left side with flying car. 
You would laud the temperature. What ! if bram- 

* Estates. \ Sow's paunch, a dainty among the Romans. 
I That man. § Quiet and humble fare. || Resolute. 

IT Mean provisions. ** Vested. ft iVe.— That-not. 
XX Supports. §§ Opulentet.— Makes-cpulent. |||| In detail. 

V f Are divided. *t Shady. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 303 

bles benignly* bear rubicundf cornels and prunes ? 
if the oak and holm with much fruit delights the 
cattle, and delights the master with much shade ? 
You would say that-Tarentum brought nearer bloomed. 
A. fountain also, fit to give name to a river, insomuch- 
that neither more-frigid nor purer does Hebrus go- 
roundj Thrace, flows useful to the infirm head, and 
useful to the stomach. These sweet retreats, and 
now, if you credit, pleasant, preserve me uninjured 
for you in September's hours§. 

You rightly live, if you care to be what you hear || : 
tve, all Rome, now-long-ago boast that-you are blest. 
But / fear, lest you should credit anyone concerning 
yourself more than yourself; or-lest you should think 
that-another than the wise and good man is blest ; 
and-lest, if the people should often-say that-you are 
sane and rightly in-health, you should dissemble the 
occult fever up-to the time of eating, until a tremor 
may fall-upon your greasy hands. The bad^I shame 
of foolish persons conceals uncured ulcers. 

If anyone should sing-of wars fought by you by 
land and sea, and with these words soothe your vacant 
ears: "May Jupiter, who consults both for you and 
the city, keep it in ambiguity**, whether the people 
more may wish you safe, or you more may wish the 
people safe;" would you be-able to acknowledge the 
praises of Augustus ff ? When you suffer to be-called 

♦Bountifully, t Ruddy. J Flow round. § A sickly month. 

|| You are reported. Sat. II. 7 1F False. ** Doubt. 

tt Would you recognise as yours the glories of Augustus ? 



304 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

wise and emended* do you respond, say you I-pray, 
in your-own namef ? 

Quinctius. — Truly / am-delighted to be-called a 
good and prudent man, I as you. 

Horatius. — He who gave this thing to-day, tomor- 
row, if he shall wish, will take it awayj ; as, if 
the people shall have delivered the fasces§ to an 
unworthy man, the same people will withdraw them, 
" Resign you, it-is mine," the people says : / resign, 
and sad recede|j. If the same people should ex- 
claim that-I am a thief, and deny that-1 am modest, 
and contend that-I have pressed the paternal neck^[ 
with a halter ; should / be-bitten** by false re- 
proaches, and change colors? Whom does false 
honor delight, and mendacious infamy terrify, unless 
the faulty man and him to-be-healed ff? "Who is a 
good man ? 

Quinctius. — He who observes the decrees of the 
fathersj"!, wno observes the laws and rights ; who 
being judge many and great suits are-cut§§ ; who 
being sponsor|J|| things are-maintained^%, and who 
being witness causes are-maintained5[H. 

Horatius — But this man all his house and the 
whole vicinage sees within base, though specious 
with a decorous*! skin* J. If my slave should say to 
me, "/neither have committed theft, nor fled*§:" 

* Faultless. t As if you deserved it. \ Auferet. — Take-avay 
5 Od. I. 12. |i Retire. IT Strangled ray father's neck 

** Be stung. ft Who requires hellebore. Sat. II. 3* 

IX Od. III. 5. §§ Are decided. ||jj Surety. Tf Are safe. 

*t Decent. *I Outside. *§ Run away. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 305 

" You have the price*, you are not galledf with 
thongs+," /say. 

"/have not killed a man." 

" You shall not feed crows on a cross§." 

"1 am good and frugal." 

The little-Sabine|| refuses^!, and denies: for the 
cautious wolf dreads the pit, and the hawk dreads 
suspected snares, and the pike dreads the covered 
hook**. Good men hate to sin from love of virtue : 
you will admit nothing in yourself ff, from dread of 
punishment. Let there be a hope of deceivingtt, 
you will mix sacred things with profane things: for 
from a thousand measures of bean when you steal 
one measure, the damage is more~lenient§§ to me in 
that way, the deed|||| is not. 

The good man, whom every forum respects, and 
every tribunal, whenever he appeases the Gods either 
with a porker or an ox, when, clearly, clearly he has 
said, "0 Janus father, O Apollo," moves h is lips, 
dreading to be-heard : " O beautiful LaveTna^I<f , give 
thou to me to deceive ; give thou to me to seem just 



* Reward. t Ureris. — Are-galled. % You escape a flogging. 

§ You shall not be a prey to carrion-crows, after being hung on a 
cross. 

|| Horace himself. H His assent. 

** As the wolf, hawk, and pike, are often deterred from seizing 
their prey, through fear of some snare ; so men are often restrained 
from vice, through fear of punishment. 

tt Commit no crime.' t% Escaping detection. §§ Lighter. 
|| || Crime. HH The goddess of swindlers. 

DD3 



306 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

and holy; do thou throw night over my sins, and 
throw a cloud over* my frauds." 

How the avaricious man is better than a slave, 
how he is more-free, when he lets-down himself t for 
an as J fixed in the three-ways §||, 1" do not see; 
for he who shall covet, will dread also : moreover he 
who shall live in-dread, to me will not be ever free. 
He has lost the arms^f, he has deserted the place** of 
virtue, who always is-hastening ft and is-over- 
whelmed in augmenting his wealth. 

When you can vend the captive tt, be you unwil- 
ling§§ to kill him : he will serve usefully : suffer you 
that he hardy may feed||!|, and plough, that he may 
navigate, and a merchant winter in the middle-of 
the waves ; that he may profit the market ; that lie 
may carry corn«[^[ and provisions. 

A good and wise man will dare to say*f : Pen- 
theus, rector*^ of Thebes, what unworthy thing \i\\\ 
you compel me to endure and suffer ? 

Pentheus. — / will take-away your goods. 

Bacchus. — Namely you will take-away mp cattle, 
and my wealth, and my beds, and my silver : it-is-per- 
mitted that you may take them away*§. 

* Objice— Throw over. \ Stoops. J Sat. I. 1. § Streets. 

|| An allusion to the practice of boys fastening coin in the ground, 
and laughing at the attempts of passers-by to pick it up. 

IT The maxims of philosophy. ** Post. tt To be rich. 

XX The avaricious man. §§ Noli- — Be-unwilling. 

|| || Your cattle. IT^T Frumenta. — Plural number. 

*t As Bacchus. Eurip. Bacch. *J Ruler. 

*§ Tollas.— Take-away. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 307 

Pentheus. — /will hold you in manacles and fetters 
under a severe guardian. 

Bacchus.— A God himself, as-soon-as / shall wish, 
will loose me. 

Horatius. — /opine*, he feelsf this thing: /shall 
die; death is the ultimate linej of things§. 



EPISTLE XVII. 

TO SC^VA. 

Though, O Scaeva, by yourself you sufficiently consult 
yourself [|, and know in what manner in-fine it-may- 
become to useH greater persons**] learn you those 
things, which a little-friend ft as yet to-be-taught 
thinks, as if a blind man should wish to show the way : 
yet behold \\ you, if even we may say anything, 
which you may care to have made your-own §§. 

If grateful II || quiet and sleep to the first hourfftl de- 
lights you ; if dust and the noise of wheels hurts*-\ 

* Suppose. t Thinks. 

J Utmost boundary. An allusion to a race, the boundary whereif 
is marked out by a line, linca. 

§ Human matters. 
|| You have sufficient prudence to advise yourself. 
*j[ Treat. ** Superiors, ft Horace, of short stature. %% Consider. 
§§ Adopted as your own. HI Agreeable. ITU Of the day. 

*t Offeuds, 



308 THE FIRST BOOK OP EPISTLES. 

you, if the inn hurts* you ; / will orderf that-you 
go to Ferentinura. For neither do joys happen^ to 
rich men alone ; nor has he lived badly, who bom§ 
and dyirjg|| has escaped-notice. 

If you shall wish to profit your friends, and treat 
you yourself a little more-benignly^f, you dry** 
will approach to the anointedft man. 

"If Aristippus could dine-on vegetable pa- 
tiently XX, he might be-unwilling to use§§ kings||U." 

"If he who notes^HI me knew-how to use§§ kings, 
he might disdain vegetable*^." 

'•Teach*£ you, of which of these you may approve 
the words and deeds ; or do you the junior hear, 
why the sentence*§ of Aristippus may be better : for 
thus he eluded*|| the biting*5f Cynicf*, as they say : 
"I myself am-a-burToonf| for myself, -f§ you are-a- 
bujfoonjl for the people1|| : this thing is righter and 
more-splendid by-much : that a horse may carry me, 
that a king may feed we, / perform officefll. You ask 



* Offends. t Advise. t Enjoyments fall to the lot. 

§ At his birth. || At his death. IT More- indulgently. 
** Not perfumed— poor. ft Perfumed— rich. tt Contentedly. 
§§ Live -with. 
|| || The taunt which Diogenes, while washing some roots, flung at 
Aristippus. 
HIT Censures. *t The reply of Aristippus. *i Tell. 

*§ Opinion. *|| Baffled. *% Snarling, 

t* Follower of the Cynics, a sect of philosophers, deriving their 
name from a dog, kvcov, on account of their dog-like mode of life. 
tl Play the buffoon. t§ For my own advantage. 

tB To please the people, tH Make my court. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 309 

vile things*, less thanf the giving person', though 
you carry yourself I in-need of nothing." 

Every color §, and state, and thing ||, became 
Aristippus, attempting greater things 9 ^ generally, 
but content with present things^. On-the-contrary } 
/ shall wonder if a converted** way of life shall be- 
come him, whompatienceft veils with a double ragJJ. 
The one will not wait-for a purple cloak; clothed-in 
anything he will walk through the most-celebrated 
places, and not unpolished bear either character : the 
other will avoid a cloak woven at Miletus§§ worse 
than a dog and a snake; he will die with cold, if you 
shall not have restored his rag|||| : restore you it, 
and suffer you that he may live inaptHH". 

To conduct affairs*f, and show their captive ene- 
mies to the citizens, approaches the throne of Jupi- 
ter*!, and attempts # § celestial things ;*|| to have 
pleased principal men, is not the last#^[ praise. It 
does not happen*t to every man to go-to Corinth. |* He 
has sat§ # , who has feared lest he should not succeed ; 
be-it: what ? has not he done manly, who has arrived ? 



* Villa rerum.—Yox viles res. t Inferior to. J Profess yourself. 
§ Complexion of life. || Circumstance. IF Circumstances. 

** Changed. tt Austerity. %% Coarse cloak. 

§§ Famous for fine wool. |||| Cloak. HIT In his folly. 

*t Execute offices successfully. *% Elevates to the skies. 

*§ Aspires to. *|| Mansions. *1T Lowest. 

+* Contingit. — It happens. 

t* A proverb arising out of the great difficulty of entering the 
port of Corinth. 

§* Sat still. 



310 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

But here is, or nowhere, that which we seek : the one 
dreads the burden, as greater than * small minds 
and a small body : the other goes-under it, and car- 
ries it throughf. Either virtue is an inauej name, 
or the experiencing§ man rightly seeks horjour and 
a price. || 

Those tacit before a king concerning their poverty 
will bear ^f more than the asking person : it-differs, 
whether you take modestly, or snatch; but this thing 
was the head of things, and the fount**. He who says, 
" I have an undowered sister, I have a poor mother, 
and a farm neither vendibleff, nor firmtl; to support 
me, " exclaims, " Give ye me victual : " another 
sings-after him, "Also for me let the cake§§ be-cut 
with divided bounty." But if the the crow could be 
fed tacit, he might have more food, and much less of 
quarrel and envy||l|- 

A companion taken^i^i to Brundusium or pleasant 
Surrentum, who complains-of the roughnesses, and 
bitter cold, and showers, or bewails his chest broken- 
open, or his things-for-the-way withdrawn ; brings- 
back*f the known acutenesses*| of a harlot, often be- 



* Too great for. t Perfert.— Carries-through. J Empty. 

§ Enterprising. | Reward. f Receive. 

** But this was the principle and source of everything which I 
alleged. 

ft Saleahle. XX Sufficient. 

§§ Quadra. — Any quadrangular thing. 
Illl A comparison of the importunate with the crow. 
HH By his patron. *t Repeats. *} Artifices. 



THE FIRST BOOK OP EPISTLES. 311 

wailing her bracelet, and often her garter snatched- 
from her ; so-that soon no faith* is-given to her true 
losses and griefs. Neither does the person once ridi- 
culed-}- in the three- ways J care to take-up a vagrant 
with a broken leg ; though very-many a tear may 
flow-from him : though having sworn by sacred Osi- 
ris§ he should say, " Credit|| ye, I do not play ; O 
cruel persons, raise ye the lame man" " Seek you 
a stranger, "^[ the hoarse vicinage** cries-in-answer. 



EPISTLE XVIII. 

TO LOLLIUS. 

If well / know you, you will dread, most-freeff 
Lollius, to afford the appearance of a buffooningJJ 
person, having professed yourself a friend. As a 
matron will be different-from and unlike a harlot, a 
friend will differ-from an unfaithful buffoon. §§ 

There is a vice diverse-from this vice and almost 
greater, a rustic asperity, both impolite, and grievous, 
which commends [| || itself by a shaved skin, and black 

* Credit. f Deceived. % Streets. 

§ An Egyptian Deity, and the wandering beggar here mentioned 
might have been an Egyptian. 

j| Believe. IT Who does not know you. ** Neighbourhood, 
tt Most frank. It Flattering. §§ Flatterer. 

|| || Would recommend. 



312 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

teeth ; while it wishes to be-called mere liberty, and 
true virtue. Virtue is the medium of the vices, and 
remote on-both-sides. 

The one* more prone than right to obsequiousness, 
and a derider of the lowest couch,f so dreads the nod 
of the rich man, and so iterates} his speeches, and 
takes-up-At's falling words, that^ou would think that- 
a-boy repeated dictated things^ to a severe master, 
or a mime|! treated^! second parts ; the other** quar- 
rels often concerning goats' wool,ff and armed fights- 
for trifles : " Forsooth, that I should not have the 
first faith,JJ and that / should not keenly bark-out§§ 
that which truly pleases, another age||| as the priced 
is-sordid*f. " For what is-disputed ? whether Castor*J 
knows, or Dolichos*| knows more ;*§ whether the way 
of Minucius may lead better to Brundusium, or the 
way of Appius. 

Him whom hurtful Yenus*j|. whom the headlong 
die*^[strips-naked1*, whom glory \* both clothes§* and 
anointsj|* beyond his means, whom the importunate 
thirst and hunger of silver holds^l*, whom a shame 
and flightfl of poverty holds, a rich friend, often 

* The buffoon. 

\ A jester admitted to thelo^er end of the table. 

% Repeats. § Dictations, lessons. || Mimic-actor. 

11 Acted. ** The clown. 

ft Whether it is wool or hair — a trifle. XX Credit. 

§§ Speak out. II II Life. 1T1T Reward. *t Is despised. 

*X A gladiator. *§ Has the more science. 
•' ■-,; Venery. **S Ruinous gambling. f* Beggars. J* Vanity. 
§* Dresses out. ||* Perfumes. f* Possesses, 

tj Avoidance. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 313 

more-instructed* by ten vices, hates and dreads ; or, 
if he does not hate, rules; and, as a pious mother, 
wishes that-he should be-wise more than himself, 
and the priorf in virtues, and says near the truths : 
" My riches (be thou unwilling + to contend §) 
sufFerj| folly^J ; you have a very-small fortune : a 
narrow gown** becomes a sane companionff ; leave- 
off you to vie with-me." Eutrapelus+J did give pre- 
cious vestments, to whomsoever lie wished to hurt : 
for blest now with fine tunics§§ he will take new 
counsels and hopes; he will sleep till light[|||; he 
will postpone his honest office^ for a harlot ; he will 
feed others' monies*+; at the last he will be a 
Thracian*}, or drive the horse of a gardener for 
hire. 

Neither shall you ever scrutinize the secret of 
him*§ ; and you shall cover*|| it having been com- 
mitted to you, though tortured*^! by wine and ire. 
Neither shall you laud your studies, or reprehend 
others' studies ; nor, when he shall wish to hunt, 
shall you compose poems. Thus the friendship of 

* More furnished — more depraved. t Superior. 

X Noli. — Be-unwilling. § Compete. |] Admit of. 

1[ Extravagance. 
** Scanty toga, opposed to the loose one of the rich. Ep. 4. 

tr Prudent dependant. 
XX P. Volumnius Eutrapelus, so called on account of his 
evTpaTreXia, or facetiousness, a patron. 

§§ Clothes. mi Day-light. 1T1T Business. 

*t Multiply his debts. * J Gladiator. Sat. II. 6. 

*§ Your patron. *|| Keep. *1T Tried. 

EE 



314 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

the twin brothers, Amphion and Zethus* lept- 
asunder +, until the lyre suspected byj the se- 
vere§ brother became-tacit||. Amphion is-thought to 
have yielded to fraternal humours ; do you yield to 
the lenient commands of your powerful friend ; and 
as-often-as he shall lead-out into the fields his beasts- 
of-burden laden with iEtolianH nets and dogs, rise 
you, and put-off the moroseness of the inhuman** 
Muse, that you may sup together onft victuals pur- 
chased by labors. This labor! J is usual to Roman 
men, and useful to £Ae2> fame§§, and life, and mem- 
bers || ||; especially when you are-in-health, and can sur- 
pass either a dog in running, or a boar in strength^; 
add you, that there is not anyone who can handle 
manly arms more-gracefully, {you know with what a 
elamor*t ofthecircle*t you can sustain the campes- 
trian combats*§) lastly you a boy have borne severe 
warfare, and the Cantabrian wars, under the leader* || , 
who refixes*H our standards from\* the temples of 
the Parthians; and now, if anything is -absent}:*, 



* Sons of Jupiter. t Was dissolved, 

t Which gave umbrage to. § Au6tere-' 

|| Amphion cultivated the Muses, Zethus the fields. To conciliate 
his brother, Amphion gave up his lyre. 

1T From the celebrity of ^toliafor hunting. 

** Unsocial. tt Coene*. — Sup-on. 

XX Exercise. §§ Charact-r. 

Limbs. 1T1T Viribus.— Plural number. 

*t Shout of applause. «j Circle of spectators. 

*§ Combats of the Campus Martius. *|| Augustus. 

■'' rr Replaces. t* Recovered from. J* Is wanting. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 315 

adjudicates* it to the Italian arms. And, (lest you 
should withdraw yourself, and inexcusable be-ab- 
sentf,) though you take-care to have done nothing 
without numbert ard measure, sometimes you trifle 
in your paternal country : the army§ parts the 
boats ; the Actian battle is-represented in hostile 
manner by boys you being leader ; the adversary is 
your brother; the lake is Adria|| ; until swift 
Victory crowns one-or-the-other with her bough. 
He who shall have thought that-you consent to his 
pursuits, a favourer, will laud your sport with each 
thumbs. 

Further that I may monish, (if anything you need 
a monitor,) often see** you, what you may say of any 
man, and to whom you may say it: fieeff you an 
inquirer XX, for the same person is garrulous§§, nor do 
open ears faithfully retain things committed to them ; 
and a word once emitted flies irrevocable. 

Again and again behold** you, what-kind-of man 
you may commendjj||, lest soon others' faults should 
strike-into you^i^ shame. We are-deceived, and 
sometimes introduce a person not worthy : therefore 
having been deceived omit*t you to defend him, 

* Assigns. t From your patron. % Out of time. 

§ Mock fleet. jj Od. I. 3. 

1T An allusion to the practice of the Amphitheatre. The thumb 
held downwards was a token of approbation, upwards of condemna- 
tion. 

** Consider. ft Avoid. XX Inquisitive person. 

§§ A babbler. |||| Recommend. H^T Excite in you. 

*t Forbear. 



316 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

whom his-own fault shall press*; that you may pre- 
serve him thoroughly known, if accusations should 
attack him, and defend him trusting to your patron- 
age : who when he is-gnawed-about+ by the tooth 
of Theon,J do you any what feel the perils about-to- 
come after a little to yourself? For your property 
is-treated-of,§ when the next wall burns ;|| and 
neglected fires are-wont to take strength. ^[ 

The culture** of a powerful friend is sweet to in- 
experienced persons; an experienced person dreads 
it. You, while your ship is in the deep, doff this 
thing, lest a changed breeze should bear you back- 
ward. 

Sad persons hate a cheerful person, and jocose per- 
sons hate a sad person ; quick persons hate a sedate 
person) remiss^ persons hate an agile and active per- 
son; the drinkers given-to-drinking from the middle- 
of the night ofFalernian wine hate him denyiDg §§ 
the proffered cups; though you m^y swear that-you 
dread nocturnal vapors jj||. Remove you the cloud 
from your brow : generally the modest man occu- 
pies^ the appearance of the obscure*! man, the 
taciturn man occupies^ the appearance of the bitter 



* Press down. t Is back-bitten. 

I As if Theon, a scurrilous poet, was an impersonation of envy. 

§ Is at stake. || Is on fire. H Fires.— Plural number. 

** Attending. tt Attend to- 

U Indolent. §§ Refusing. 

Ill) Fumes of wine by night. W Carries. *t Dark. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 317 

Among all things* you will read, and inquire-of 
learned men ; in what manner you may be-able to 
pass- through life easily :f lest desire always impo- 
tent;]; should agitate and vex you, lest fear should 
vex you, and the hope of things moderately^ useful: 
whether learning may produce virtue, or nature may 
give it : what may minish cares, what may render 
you friendly to|| yourself: what purely may tranquil- 
lize, whether honor, or sweet lucre, or the secret^ 
way, and path of a life escaping-notice. 

As-often-as the cold river Digentia** refectsf f me, 
which Mandela \\ drinks, a village wrinkled with 
cold§§, what do you think that-I feel, what do you 
suppose, O friend, that-I pray ? That I may have what 
now /have; even less: and that /may live to my- 
self,|j|| what remains of life, if the Gods will that- 
any thing remains : that I may have a good store of 
books, and fruit provided 5 ^ for the year ; and that I 
may not*f float*t hanging by the hope of a dubious 
hour. But it-is enough to ask Jupiter those things 
which he gives and takes-away : "Let him give life, 
let him give riches, I-myself will prepare an equal 
mind*§ for myself." 



* Withal. t Agreeably. % Isatiable. § Indifferently. 
[| In friendship with. IT Private. 

** In Horace's Sabine farm. tt Refreshes. 

XX A village near Horace's villa. 

§§ As if the inhabitants of Mandela were wrinkled with cold. 

|| [[ For myself. Uf Provision, *t Neu.— And-not. 

*t Fluctuate. *§ Even temper 

ee3 



318 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

EPISTLE XIX. 

TO MAECENAS. 

O learned Maecenas, if you credit old Cratinus,* no 
verses can please long, nor live, which are-written 
by drinkers of water. Since Liberf has added the 
not-at-all sane poets to J the Satyrs and Fauns, the 
sweet Muses generally have smelt-of wines in-the- 
morning. 

Homer by-his praises of wine is-argued§ to have been 
given-to-wine : father Ennius|| himself never unless 
drunk sallied-forth to sing-of arms. / will commit 
the forum^y and puteal** of Liboff to sober men, I 
will take -a way to singtt from severe§§ persons. 

As-soon- as /"declare this thing, the poets have not 
ceased to vie in nocturnal wine, they have not ceased 
to stink of diurnal wine. What? if anvone fierce 
with stern countenance, and naked foot, and the tex- 
ture of a small gown|||| should imitate Cato, whether 
would he represent the virtue and morals of Cato ? 
the tongue emulous of Timagenes burst Iarbitas,^ 

* A poet of the old comedy. Sat. I. 40. 
t Od. 1. 12. % Enrolled theinsane poets among. 
§ Is convicted. || Ennius the father of Latin poets. 

IT Law. ** Sat. II. 6. Tribunal. ft Founded by Libo. 

JJ The power to sing. §§ Abstemious. 

|| |j Wearing a scanty gown. 
HIT Tarbitas, a Moor, attempting in vain to imitate Timagenes, 
a rhetorician of Alexandria, burst with despair. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 319 

while he studies to be-held urbane * and strains to be - 
held eloquent. An exemplar imitable in-its vices 
deceives f: but if / should palet by accident, they 
might drink§ the bloodless cumin||. imitators, 
servile herd, how often your tumults^ have moved** 
bile for me,tt how often your tumults^ have moved** 
a joke for me X%\ 

/first have placed free vestiges§§ on vacant|||| 
ground: I have not pressed others' vestiges%% with my 
foot. He who trusts himself, as leader rules the 
swarm. I first have showed the Parian iambicslffl to 
Latium, having followed the numbers and spirit*f of 
Archilochus, not the things*! and words*§ driving 
Lycambes*||. 

And, lest therefore you should adorn me with shor- 
ter leaves*% because / feared to change the measures 
and art of the verse, masculine Sappho tempers her 
Muse with the footf* of Archilochus, Alcseus tempers 
his Muse; but unlike in things']:* and order§*, he 
neither seeks a father-in-law, ||* whom he may 



Polished. t Misleads. % Become pale. § Would drink. 

Cumin to drive the blood from their faces. H Noisy follies. 

* Stirred. \\ My indignation. 1 1 My mirth. §§ Footsteps. 

IIH Untrodden. 
ITU Archilochus, the inventor of iambics, was a native of Paros. 
*t Anitnos. — Plural number. *J Subjects. *§ Language. 

»|| To hang himself. Ep. G. 
♦IT Smaller chaplets, or leaves of less enduring verdure, 
t* Measure. J* Subjects. §* Arrangement. 

II* As Archilochus sought Lycambes. 



320 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

-bedaub* with blackf verses, nor by infamous verse 
knits a halter for his spouse. X Him not sung be- 
fore by other mouth, I, the Latin lyrist, have pub- 
lished; it-delights me bringiug§ things uncomme- 
morated both to be-read by ingenuous eye?, and to be- 
held by ingenuous hands. 

Would you wish to know, why the ungrateful 
reader may laud and love my little-works at-home, 
and unjust press j| them without kis threshold^!? / 
do not hunt the suffrages of the populace changeable- 
as-the-wind, at the expenses of suppers, and by the 
present of a worn vest**; I do not, an auditor and aven- 
ger of noble writersff, deign to go-about the gramma- 
tical tribes, and pulpitstJ : hence are those tears §§ ! 
If / have said, " It-shames me to recite writings un- 
worthy-of the dense theatres, and to add weight to 
trifles," " You ridicule," one says, "and reserve 
those things for the ears of Jupiter :j||| for you are- 
confident that-you alone distil poetic honies, fair to 
yourself. " At these things I dread to use my nos- 
trils Tffi: an ^5 lest 1 should be-cut*f by the acute nail 

* Asperse. t Satirical. 

% As Archilochus did for Neobule, -whom her father Lycambes 
detained from him, after she had been promised to him in mar- 
riage. 

§ Bringing forward. || Depress, depreciate. 1T Abroad. 

** Presents of old clothes. 

H By repeating my writings to them. 

'- XX Desks. §§ Of resentment. |||l Augustus. 

W Turn up my nose— to show my contempt. Sat. I. 6- 

*t Be torn. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 321 

of him struggling,* " That place displeases," / cry, 
and ask respites. For playt has begot trembling 
contest, and ire : ire has begot fierce enmities and 
funereal war. 



EPISTLE XX. 

TO HIS BOOK. 

O book, ' you seem to look-to Vertumnus and Janus J, 
doubtless that you may stand-forth§ polished by the 
pumex|| of the Sosii.^l You hate keys,** and seals** 
grateful ff to a modest child: you bemoan that-you 
are-shown to few persons, and laud covaraonXX places, 
not so having been nurtured ! Flee you, whither you 
desire to descend : there will not be a return for you 
having been sent-forth. " What have I miserable 
done ? What have / wished ? " you will say, when 
anyone shall have hurt you ; and you know that-you 



* Of ray antagonist, striving to get me to hear his writings and 
recite mine. 

t The recitation of verses. 
% By the temples of these deities were the booksellers' stalls. 

§ For sale. 
K Booksellers smoothed the parchments on which they wrote, 
•w ith a pumice stone. 

11 Brothers — the fashionable booksellers of Rome. 
** Restraints. tt As protecting. %% Public. 



322 THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

are-gathered into a small space*, when the full 
loverf languishes^. But if the augur is not preju- 
diced§ from hatred of you offending ||, you will be 
dear at Rome, until your age^j shall desert you. When 
handled by the hands of the vulgar you shall begin 
to become-sordid,** you taciturn either shall feed 
inert moths, or flee to Utica, or shall be-sent boundft 
to Ilerda. Your monitor not heardtt will laugh ; as 
he who enraged thrust-forth his badly obeying§§ ass 
over the cliffs ||||: for who would labour to save him 
unwilling ? This fate also awaits you, that stam- 
mering old-age should overtake you\*[\ teaching boys 
elements in the extreme streels*f . 

When the tepid sun*t shall have moved-to you*§ 
more ears*U, you shall say that-I born of a father a 
freedman, and in a slender fortune extended wings 
greater than my nest*T; that as-much-as you may 
take-from my birth, you may add to my virtues : you 
shall say that-I pleased the first men of the city in 

* Rolled up and thrust into a small compartment in the li- 
brary. 

t Reader. J Grows weary. § Dcsipit. — Is-prejudiced. 

8 If I do not mistake, through dislike of your offence. 
^ Youth— novelty. ** To become soiled- 

it As a wrapper. J J Regarded. §§ Disobedient. 

Hit Which the animal would not shun. 
^If To fall into the hands of some stammering old persoD. 
*t In the outskirts of the city. 
*% Temperate evening sun, •§ Attracted to you. 

*|| Auditors. 
*f Stretched my wings beyond my nest — took a higher flight than 
my fortunes promised. 



THE FIRST BOOK OF EPISILES. 323 

war* and at home : of small body, prematurely-grey* 
apt for sunsf, quick to be-angry,yet that / might be 
placable! . If haply anyone shall inquire-of you 
my age, let him know that-I had completed four- 
times eleven Decembers §, in the year in which 
Lollius named Lepidus his colleague. 



* Abroad, t Not patient of cold, % Easily appeased. 

§ Forty-four years, 



324 



THE SECOND BOOK 



THE EPISTLES 



EPISTLE I. 

TO AUGUSTUS. 

Since you alone sustain so-many and so-great nego- 
tiations,* since you defend the Italian affairs by your 
arms, since you adorn them by your morals, since you 
emend them by your laws; / should offend against 
the public interests, if with along discourse /should 
delayf your times, O Caesar. 

Romulus, and father Libert, and Pollux with Cas- 
tor, after their mighty deeds, received into the tem- 
ples of the Gods, while they cultivate § the earths 
and the race of men, while they compose rough wars, 

* Occupations, t Trespass upon. lOd.I. 12. § Improve 



THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 325 

while they assign fields, while they build towns : la- 
mented that the hoped* favor did not respond to their 
merits: hef who crushed the dire Hydra, and subdued 
the known portents X by fatal § labor, ascertained 
that-envy was to be-tamed by the last end : || for he 
burns by his-own fulgence, who weighs-down^I the 
arts put beneath him : extinct** the same person 
shall be-loved. To you present we largely-give 
mature honorsff, and putU altars to-be-sworn-at by 
your name, confessing that-nothing such is about- 
to-rise ever, confessing that-nothing such has 
risen. 

But this your people, wise and just in one thing, 
in preferring you to our leaders, in preferring you 
to the Grecian leaders, by-no -means estimates other 
things with similar reason and measure, and except 
those things which it sees removed from the earths§§ 
and having discharged || || their times, disdains and 
hates all things : so a favorer of ancient things, 
that it says that-the-Muses on the Alban mount have 
spoked the tables forbidding to offend, which the 
twice five men*f sanctioned, and the treaties of 



* Expected. t Hercules. 

Well known works of wonderful difficulty. § Fated. 

|| Was subdued only by his death. 

IT Oppresses. **• When dead. 

+ + Honors at the proper season. J J Build. 

§ Buried. |||| Fulfilled. Iff Dictated. 

*t Decemviri- 

FF 



326 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

kings made-equal* either with the Gabii or with 
the rigid Sabines, and the books of the Pontiffs, and 
the aged volumes of the prophetst. 

If, because the most-ancient writings of the 
Greeks are each even the best, Roman writers are- 
weighed in the same scale, it is not necessary! that 
we should say many words : there is nothing hard 
within an olive, there is nothing hard without in a 
nut§. We have come to the summit of fortune ; we 
paint, and sing, and wrestle more -skilfully than the 
anointed Achiviil. 

If time renders poems better, as wines, / would 
wish to know, how-many a year may arrogate! a 
price** for writings : ought the writer who has 
dropped-offjf a hundred years from-hence to be-re- 
ferredJt among the perfect and ancient writers, or 
among the vile and new writers ? let a boundary 
exclude quarrels. 

"i/e§§ is ancient and approved, who perfects |||| 
a hundred years." 

What is he who has perished ff less by one 
month or year? among whom shall he be to-be-re- 
ferredlffl ? whether among the ancient poets ? or 
those whom both the present and after age may 
reject ? 

* Made on equal terms. t Sibyls % Est. — It-is-necessary. 

§ It is as absurd as if anyone should say " there is nothing, &c." 
— a proverb. 

| Od. Ill 3. IT Claim. ** Value. tt Died. 

It Be reckoned. f$ Understand, you will say. 

Illl Completes. HH To be reckoned. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP EPISTLES. 327 

" That man* indeed shall be-put honestly among 
the ancient poets, who is junior either by a brief 
month or a whole year." 

/ use the permission, and as the hairs of a horse's 
tail, by-little-and-little pluck, and take-away one 
year, I take-away also another year, till he falls 
eludedf in the manner of a rushing t heap, who re- 
sorts to annals, and estimates virtue by years, and 
admires nothing except that which Libitina§ has 
made-sacred. 

Ennius, both wise and brave, and another Homer, 
as critics say, seems lightly to care whither the 
Pythagorean promises and dreams may fall ||. 
Naevius is not in our hands %, and sticks in our 
minds almost recent**, so sacred is every ancient 
poem. 

As-often-as it-is-disputed, which poet may be bet- 
ter than the other, Pacuvius bears-away the fame of a 
learned old-man, Accius bears-away the fame of a 
loftyff poet: the gown of Afranius is-said to have 
fitted Menandertt J Plautus is-said to hasten to§§ 
the exemplar of Sicilian Epicharmus ; Csecilius is- 
said to conquer || || in gravity, Terentius is-said to 

* Understand, you will say. + Baffled. J Palling. 

§ Od. III. 30. 
|| What may become of Pythagoras's doctrines of transmigra- 
tions — as if persuaded that he should live in the memories of pos- 
terity. 

IT Is obsolete. ** Fresh. 

+t Sublime. 1T The comedies of Afranius were like Menander's. 

It After. mi Excel- 



328 THE SECOMD BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

conquer* in art. These poets she learns-ofT, and 
these poets pressed in a close theatre potent Rome 
views ; these poets she has, and numerates! to our 
time, from the age of Livius the writer. 

Sometimes the vulgar sees right ; there is where 
it is-wrong. If it so admires and lauds the ancient 
poets, that it can prefer nothing, that it can compare 
nothing to them, it errs: Hit cedesl that-they say 
somethings too obsoletely, if it cedesj that-they say 
most things harshly, if it confesses that-they say 
many things weakly, it both is-wise, and makes§ 
with-me, and judges Jupiter being equal j|. / do 
not indeed pursue, or think that-the-verses of Livius 
are to-be-blotted-out, which / remember that-flog- 
ging Orbilius^" dictated to me little**; but that-they 
seem emendedff, and beautiful, and very-little dis- 
tant from exactJJ verses, I wonder. Among which if 
haply a decorous §§ word has shone-forth, if one 
verse and another verse is a little more-elegant, it 
unjustly leads and vends the whole poem|] ||. / am- 
indignant that-anything is-reprehended, not because 
it may be-thought coarsely composed, or inelegantly, 
but because lately ; and-not tLat-pardon is-asked for 



* Excel. t Reckons. J Allows. § Agrees. 

|| Judges equitably — under the guidance of Jupiter, the source of 
equity. 
1T A schoolmaster. ** When ahoy. tt FaultlesB. 

XX Perfect. §§ Graceful- 

IIH An allusion to slave-merchants, who lead their most likely 
slaves to the front, for view, to help off the less vendible. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP EPISTLES. 329 

ancient writers, but that-honor and rewards are- 
asked. 

If I should doubt, whether-or-not the fable* of 
Atta rightly perambulatest the saffron and flowerst, 
almost all our fathers would cry that-modesty had 
perished, since / attempt to reprehend those things, 
which grave iEsopus has acted, which learned 
Roscius had acted : either, because they esteem no- 
thing right, except that which has pleased them- 
selves ; or, because they think it shameful to obey 
minors §, and that-they old-men should confess that- 
those things which they beardless || learnt are to-be- 
destroyed. 

Now he who lauds the Salian hymn of Numa^f, 
and wishes to seem alone to know that thing, which 
with-me he is-ignorant-of** ; he does not favour and 
applaud buried geniuses, but impugns our geniuses, 
envious he hates us and our writings. But if novelty 
had been as hateful to the Greeks as to us, what thing 
now could be ancient? or what thing could public 
use have, which it might read and rubff from-man-to- 
manX+ ? 

* Play. t Treads. 

% The stage sprinkled with saffron-water, and strewn with 
flowers. 

§ Juniors. || When boys. 

% A hymn which Numa composed for the Salii, or priests of 
Mars. 

** The hymn was unintelligible in the days of Horace, 
tt Handle. JJ Promiscuously. 

ff3 



330 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

When first wars being laid-aside Greece began to 
trifle, and fortune being prosperous to lapse into 
vice, now she burned with desires of wrestlers*, now 
she burned with desires of horsesf; she loved J 
workmen of marble or ivory or brass ; she suspended 
her look and soul upon a painted tablet§ ; now she 
rejoiced in play ers-on-the-flute, now she rejoiced in 
tragedians ; as if an infant girl played under a nurse, 
that thing which eagerly she desired, maturely 
full || she relinquished. What thing pleases or is in 
hatred, which you may not believe to be mutable ? 
This thing% good peaces** have had, and favourable 
winds| f . 

At Rome long-while it-has-been a sweet and usual 
thinglt, the house being opened in-the-morning, to 
be-vigilant§§, to give-forth 1 1 1| the laws to a client, 
and expend cautious monies to right names^, and 
hear*f elders, and tell a minor*!, by what means 
his estate might increase, and hurtful lust might be- 
minished. The light*§ people has changed its mind, 



* With a passion for wrestlers. t A passion for horses. 

I Grew fond of. 
§ An allusion to the Greek custom of hanglrig out pictures to 
public view and attention. 

|| Quickly satiated. IT Effect— inconstancy. 

** Happy times of peace. tt Of fortune. 

XX A pleasant and fashionable thing. 
§§ To rise. Expound. 

1f1T To lend money on security to solvent debtors. 
*t Listen to. *} Junior. -ckle, 



THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES- 331 

and glows with one desire of writing : both boys and 
severe fathers bound as-to their hairs with a bough* 
sup, and dictate verses. I myself, who affirm that-I 
write no verses, am-found more-mendaciousf than 
the Parthianst, and sooner than the risen sun§ 
awake ask- for a reed||, and papers, and desks. The 
man ignorant of a ship fears to work^f a ship ; not 
anyone dares, except he who has learnt, to give 
southern wood to a sick person : that thing which 
belongs-to physicians, physicians promise;** work- 
men handle tools : we unlearned and learned write 
poems without-distinction. 

How-great virtuestf, however, this error and this 
lightjt insanity may have, thus collect§§ you : the 
mind of the poet is not easily avaricious; /w loves 
verses, he studies this one thing; he laughs-at de- 
triments ||||, awd flights of slaves, and fires; he does 
not cogitate-uponlffi any fraud for his associate*! or a 
child a pupil*J; he lives on pods*§ and second* || 
bread : though indolent and bad for warfare, he is 
useful to the city*1[ : if you grant this thing, that- 
great things are-assisted even by small things, the 



* Having their hair bound with a garland, 
t More deceitful. 
% Accustomed to simulation— who, in battle, affected to retreat, 
when they least intended it. Od. I. 19. 

§ Before sun-rise. || Pen. f Steer. ** Profess. 

tt Benefits. J J Slight. §§ Gather. |||| Losses. 

ITU Contrive. *t Partner. *J Ward. *§ Pulse. 

*|| Brown- *1T State. 



332 THE SECOND BOOK OP EPISTLES. 

poet figures* the tender and lisping mouth of the 
boy ; even now he turns his ear from obscene dis- 
courses ; soon also he forms his breastf with friendly 
precepts, the corrector of asperity and envy and ire; 
rightly he relates facts ; he instructs the rising times % 
by known§ examples ; he solaces the needy and 
sick person. Whence could the girl ignorant of a 
husband|| with chaste boys learn prayers, unless the 
Muse had given a poet ? The chorus^" asks his 
help, and feels the deities present ** ; it implores 
the celestial watersff bland|J with a learned prayer; 
it averts diseases, it repels perils to-be-dreaded ; it 
obtains both peace, and a year rich with fruits ; by 
verse the Gods above are-appeased, by verse the 
Manes are-appeased. 

Ancient agriculturists, brave, and blest with a 
little, after corn§§ laid-up|| ||, lightening^! with a fes- 
tive time the body, and the mind itself bearing hard 
things in hope of the end, with the associates of their 
labors, their children, and faithful wife, did appease 
Tellus*f with a porker, and Silvanus*J with milk, 
and the Genius*§ reminding of brief life*|| with 

* Fashions. t Mind. J Generations. § Famed. 

|| Inexperienced of a husband— unmarried. 

IT Of boys and girls. ** Propitious. 

tt Heavenly showers. \\ Persuasive. 

§§ Frumenta.— Plural number. |||| After harvest-home. 

1T1T Relieving. *f The Goddess Earth. 

*} Od. III. 29. 

*§ Given to every man and which died with him. 

*|| Of the brevity of life. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 333 

flowers and wine. Fescennine* licencef brought- 
inj by this custom has poured§ rustic reproaches 
in alternate verses, and the liberty accepted through 
recurring years has played amiably || ; until the 
joke now severe began to be-turned into open rage, 
and menacing to go through^ honest houses** with- 
impunity. The persons attacked by the bloody tooth 
grieved ft ; untouched persons also had a caret! for 
the common condition : moreover also a law and 
penalty icas carried§§, which was-unwilling that- 
anyone should be-described [| [| in badUH verse. They 
turned*f their mode*J, from dread of the club reduced 
to well speaking # § and delighting. 

Captive Greece captivated her fierce victor, and 
introduced the arts to rustic Latium. Thus that 
horrid*|| Saturnian*H numberf* flowed-off, and re- 
finements repelled the grievous virus J* ; but yet 
for a long time remained, and to-day remain, the 
vestiges of the country : for late the Roman applied 

* From Fcscennia, a town of Etruria, where coarse nuptial songs 
were invented — coarse. 

t Licentiousness. % Introduced. 

§ Poured forth. || Good-humouredly. IT Attack. 

** Houses of honour. tt Smarted. 

XX Concern. §§ Enacted. |||| Be stigmatized. 

%% Defamatory. *t Changed. *J Style. 

*§ To the necessity of praising. 

*|| Rough. 

*f Italian, Italy having been called Saturnia, from Saturn, who 

reigned there. 

t* Measure. J* Offensive virulence. 



334 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

his acutenesses* to Grecian writings ; and after the 
Punic wars quiet began to inquire, what useful 
matter Sophocles and Thespis and iEschylus might 
bringf. He tried also if with-dignity he could turnt 
their subject ; and pleased himself, by nature sub- 
lime and bold; for he breathes a spirit tragic 
enough, and felicitously § dares; but unknowingly || 
thinks disgraceful and dreads a smearing. T[ 

Comedy is-believed, because it sends-for** its subjects 
from the midstff, to have the least sweaty ; but Co- 
medy has by-so-much the more burden, by-how-much 
it has less indulgence. Behold you, in what manner 
Plautus can maintain the parts of a loving youth I 
how he can maintain the parts of anattent§§ father 1 
how he can maintain the parts of an insidious pander ! 
How-great Dossennus is in his edacious |||| parasites ! 
How he. runs-over the stages with a sock not fas- 
tened^ ! For he delights to cast-down the money 
into his coffers ; after this thing careless, whether his 
fable*f may fall, or stand with aright ankle.* J 

Him whom Glory has borne to the scene* § in her 
chariot changeable-as-the-wind, the listless spectator 



* Genius. f Afford. J Translate. § Successfully. 
|| Foolishly. IT An erasure. ** Fetches, 

ft From common life. XX Require the least labor. 

§§ Careful. lid Voracious. 

HIT Horace censures the carelessness of the poet in terms applic- 
able to the player. 

*t Play. *X An upright foot— firm base. 

•§ Stage. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 335 

ex animates*, the sedulous spectator inflates! : so 
light a thing, so small a thing is-it, which under- 
mines:]: and refects§ a mind avaricious of praise. The 
ludicrous thing || may farewell, if the palm denied 
brings me back meagre, if bestowed it brings me 
backU fat. 

Often also this thing puts-to-flight and terrifies an 
audacious poet, that those persons more in number, 
less in virtue and honor, unlearned, and foolish, and 
prepared to fight, if the knight** should be-discord- 
antff, in the middle-of versestt ask-for either a bear, 
or pugilists; for in these things the mob rejoices. 
But also now all pleasure has migrated §§ from 
the ear of the knight** to the uncertain eyes and 
their vain joys. The curtains are-pressed [|[| for 
four or more hours, while troops of horsemen 
fleelllf, and companies of footmen ; soon the fortune 
of kings with hands tied-behind is-dragged*f ; cha- 
riots hasten, litters hasten, carriages hasten, ships 
hasten; captive ivory is-borne, captive Corinthus*! 
is-bome. If he were on the earths, Democritusmight*§ 
laugh; whether a panther a diverse genus confused 
with the camel, or a white elephant turned-about the 

* Dispirits. t Inspirits. J Dejects. § Revives. 

I! The stage. IF Reducit. — Brings-back. 

** Equestrian order. tt Dissent. %% The play. 

§§ Departed. 
IIH Depressed. The curtain, -when the play began, was sunk 
below the stage. 

HIT Over the stage. *t Is dragged forward. 

*J A representation of captive Corinth. *§ Would. 



336 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

countenances* of the vulgar : he mightf view the 
people more-attentive than the sports themselves, 
as affording to him more spectacles than the mime§ ; 
but think that- the- writers narrated their fable to a 
deaf ass : for what voices have availed to overcome 
the sound, which our theatres bring-back|| ? You 
would think that-the-forest Garganus roared, or the 
Tuscan sea : with so-great a noise the sports are- 
viewed, and the artsU", and foreign riches, with 
\\ hich daubed-over when the actor has stood on the 
stage, tb£ righthand concurs to the left hand**. 
" Has he said as-yet anything ?" 
" Nothing truly." 
" What pleases then ?" 

"The wool imitating violets with Tarentine 
dye." 

And lest haply you should think that-I laud malig- 
nantly ft those things, which I-my self may refuse to 
perform, when other persons rightly treat them ; that 
poet seems to me to be-able to go on an extended 
ropeJJ, who inanely §§ grieves my breast, and irritates, 
and soothes, and fills with false terrors, as a magician, 
and now places me at Thebes, and now places me at 
Athens. 



* Attracted the eyes. t Would. % More attentively. 

§ Ep. I. 18. || Re-echo. 

1T Works of art. ** Clashes on the left hand. 

tt Praise enviously. 

\X Engage in the most difficult walk of poetry. 

§J By fiction. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP EPISTLES. 337 

But come you, and to these persons who rather- 
wish to trust themselves to a reader, than bear the 
fastidiousnesses of a proud spectator, render a brief 
care, if you wish to complete in books a present 
worthy-of Apollo*, and add a spur to poets, that 
with greater desire they may seek verdant Heli- 
conf. 

Indeed we Poets often do to ourselves many mis- 
chiefs (that I-myself may cut my vineyardsj), when 
we give a book to you solicitous, or wearied ; when 
we are-hurt, if anyone of our friends has dared to 
reprehend one verse ; when not-recalled § we 
unrol || places already recited ; when we lament, 
that-our labors do not appear^!, and poems deduced 
with a fine thread** ; when we hope, that-the- 
matter is about-to-come to-that-state, that, as-soon- 
as you shall have known-again that-we are-making 
verses, you accommodating voluntarily would send- 
for us, and forbid that-we want, and compel that-we 
write. 

But yet it-is the price of the workff to know, 
what-sort-of poets your virtue seentt in war§§ and 



* Fill the library munificently attached to the temple of Apollo. 
Ep. I, 3. 

t Sacred to Apollo and the Muses — allegorically. 
t Proverbial — argue against my inteiests. 
§ As in the theatres — unasked. |l In order to recite. 

11 Escape observation. 
** Spun out with a fine texture 
tt It is worthwhile. Jt Proved. §§ Abroad. 

GG 



338 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

at home may have, not to-be-committed* to an un- 
worthy poet. 

Grateful t to king Alexander the Great, was that 
Cheerilus, who to uncultivated J and badly made 
verses referred§ the accepted Philippi||, a regal 
coin. But, as handled inks remit ^[ a mark and 
blot, mostly writers by foul verse stain splendid 
facts**. That same king, who, so dearly prodigal, 
bought so ridiculous a poem, by an edict, forbade 
that-not an j one, except Apelles, should paint him, 
or other man than Lysippus should cast the brassesff 
simulating! :}; the countenance of brave Alexander. 
But if you should call that judgment§§ subtle for 
viewing the arts to books, and to these gifts of the 
Muses, you might swear that-he was born in the gross 
air of the Boeotians|||. 

But neither do Virgilius and Varius the poets be- 
loved by you disgrace your judgments of them, and 
the presents, which with much praise of the giving 
person they have borne^ffl; nor are countenances more 
expressed by brazen statues, than by the work of 
the poet the morals and minds of illustrious men 

* To be confided. t Agreeable. J Unpolished. § Set down. 
J Philips — coins bearing the head of Philip, the father of Alex- 
ander, and named from him. 

IT Leave behind. ** Actions. tt Bronzes. 

tt Representing. §§ Of Alexander. 
HII The air of Bceotia was very thick: hence those who imagined 
that the climate influences the mind, considered the Boeotians dull 
—without discernment. 

fiT Received. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP EPISTLES. 339 

appear *. Nor could I rather-wish to compose 
discourses creeping along the groundf, than deeds 
achieved^ and sing-of the sites § of lands ||, and 
rivers, and forts placed-upon mountains, and 
barbarous kingdoms, and wars concluded by your 
auspices through the whole world, and the barriers 
confining Janus^f the guardian of peace, and Rome 
dreaded by the Parthians, you being prince ; if, as- 
much-as / could wish, / were able also ; but neither 
your majesty receives little** verse, nor my modesty 
dares to attempt a subject, which my powers may re- 
fuse to bear. Sedulityff moreover foolishly urgest \ 
him, whom it loves, especially when it commends 
itself by numbers and art§§ : for one learns sooner 
and remembers more-willingly that thing which any- 
one derides, than that thing which he approves and 
venerates. Nothing do / value the oflicett which 
burdens %% me ; and neither with a countenance 
formed for the worse do / wish to be set-forth in-wax 
anywhere, nor to be-decorated|||| with badly made 
verses : lest / should blush having been presented 
with the gross gift, and, together with my writer 
extended^ in an open case*f, be-brought-down 



* Are represented. 

t Of a humble character— his own Satires and Epistles. 

J A record of actions performed. 

§ Situations. || Countries. 1T Od. IV. 15. ** Humble. 

tf Omciousness. %% Annoys. 

§§ Verses and poetic arrangement. |||| To be graced. 

%% Laid out — exposed to public derision. *t For writings. 



340 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

into the street selling frankincense and odors, and 
pepper, and "whatever is-wrapped-up in useless 
papers. 



EPISTLE n. 

TO JULIUS FLORUS. 

O Florus, faithful friend of the good and illustrious 
Nero, if anyone haply should wish to sell to you a 
boy* born at Tibur, or Gabii, and thus treat with- 
you : " He both fair and beautiful from head to the 
bottom-of the anklesf, shall become and be yours 
for eight thousand pieces-of-moneyj ; a slave apt for 
ministries§ at the nods of a master, imbued with 
Greek small-letters ||, serviceable for any art; you 
will imitate anything with moist clay : moreover 
also he will sing untaught^, but sweet to you drink- 
ing. Many promises** lightenff credit, when he 
lauds more-fully than right venal wares, who wishes 
to put them off||. No thing urges me: /am poor in 
my-own money §§. No one of the slave-dealers 
mighty || do this thing for you ; not easily 51 11 from me 
might || || anyone bear*+ the same thing: once he 

* Slave. t To foot. % Sesterces. § Offices. 

|| Light studies. IT Indoctum. — For indocte — Artlessly. 

** Professions. tt Weaken. 

XX Extruders.— Put-off. 

§§ Though poor, my money is my own, not another's — I am not 

in debt. 

Illl Would. UH Readily. *f Receive. 



THE SECOND BOOK OP EPISTLES. 341 

loitered, and, as it-happens, lay-hid in the stairs, fear- 
ing the hanging thong*. You should give your 
monies, if the excepted flight nothing offends you." 
He may bearf the price secure^ of a penalty, 1 
opine §. You knowing have bought a vicious 
slave : the law has been told to you : yet you pro- 
secute this man, and delay him with an iniquitous 
suit. 

I said to you setting-out that-I was indolent, / said 
that-I was almost disabled for such offices ; lest you 
severe should chide because no epistle || of mine 
came to you. What then have / profited, if yet you 
assail the rights making with-me ?H You complain 
above this thing also, that / mendacious** do not 
send to you the expected verses. 

A soldier of Lucullusff , while weary he snores by- 
night, had lost to an asJJ provisions collected by many 
hardships ; after this thing like a vehement wolf, 
enraged-at both himself and the enemy equally, 
keen with hungry teeth§§, threw-down a regal gar- 
rison from a place, as they say, most-highly fortified, 
and rich-in many things. Illustrious on-account-of 
that deed he is-adorned with honest |||| gifts, and ac- 
cepts^IH above twice ten sestertia*f of monies. Haply 
about this time the praetor desiring to overthrow / 

• The suspended slave-whip. t Receive. J Without fear. 

§ Am of opinion. || Letter. 

H Favouring me. ** False to my promise. +t Ep. I. 6. 

JJ Sat. I. 1. §§ Fierce with famine. |||| Honorable. 

%% Receives. *t Sat. I. 3. 

gg3 



342 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

know-not what* castle, began to exhort the same 
man with words which to a timid person even 
might add courage : " Go you, O good+ ma?i, whither 
your virtue J calls you ; go you with fortunate foot, 
about to bear§ the grand rewards of your merits ! 
Why do you stand ?" After these words he cau- 
tious, though a rustic, says, " He will go, he will go 
thither, whither you wish, who has lost his zone."j| 

It-befell me to be-nursed^I at Rome, and to be- 
taught how-much enraged Achilles had hurt the 
Greeks. Good Athens added a little more art, for- 
sooth that / might be-able to discern a right line 
from a curve**, and seek truth among the woods of 
Academusff . But hard times removed me from the 
grateful \\ place, and the tide of civil war bore me 
rude into arms, not about-to-respond to the arms§§ of 
Caesar Augustus. Whence as-soon-as first Philippij||j 
dismissed me, humble with cut-down wings^iH, and 
destitute both of paternal house and farm, auda- 
ious poverty impelled that / should make verses. 



* Some. t Brave. J Valor. § Receive. 

| Girdle, in which the ancients carried their money — purse. 

% Be bred. 
** A metaphor, from geometrical lines — distinguish right from 
wrong. 

tt An Athenian who left a wooded park, &c, at Athens, to the 
philosophers to meet and walk in, from whom it was called the 
Academia, Academy, and the Academics were named. 

%% Agreeable. §§ About to resist the sinews. 

HI! The defeat at Philippi. Od. II. 7. HIT Hopes. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 343 

But, what hemlocks* will be-able ever sufficiently 
to purge-out me, having that which should not be- 
wantingf, if /should not t think it better to sleep 
than to write verses ? 

Years going§ plunder from us things one-by-one : 
they have snatched-away my jokes, and Venus, || and 
feasts, and play ; they tend to extort my poems. 
What thing do you wish that I should do ? 

Finally not all persons admire and love the 
same things : you rejoice in verse ;^[ this man is- 
delighted with iambics ;** that man is-delighted with 
Bion's discourses, ft and black salt, t J They seem 
to me to dissent almost like three guests, with various 
palate§§ asking-for things much diverse. What 
thing should 1 give ? What thing should / not give ? 
You refuse that thing which another orders ; that 
thing which you desire, that thing truly is distaste- 
ful and acid to the other two guests. 

Besides other things, do you think that-I could 
write poems at Rome, among so-many cares, and so- 
many labors t|||| One person calls me to be-surety, 
another person calls me to hear writings, all 
offices^! being relinquished ; the one person lies*f 
on the hill of Quirinus, the other person lies #f on 

* Used for the cure of madness. t Be sufficient. 
J Ni.— If-not. § Advancing. Gallantry. IT Lyrics. 

** Od.1.16. 
tt Such bitter satires as Bion of the Borysthenes wrote, who 
spared neither Gods nor men. 

tt IH-natured wit. §§ Taste. |||| Toils. 

. HU Duties. *t Keeps his bed. 



344 THE SECOND BOOK OP EPISTLES. 

the extreme-of Aventinus; each is to-be-visited: 
you see that-the-intervals are humanely commodi- 
ous.* "But the streets are pure,+ so-that nothing 
can withstand persons meditating." A contractor 
in-a-heat hastens with mules and porters ; a ma- 
chine turnst now a stone, now a machine turns% a 
huge beam; sad funerals§ struggle || with robustll 
waggons ; in this way a rabid dog flees ; in that way 
a muddy sow rushes : go you now, and meditate with- 
yourself canorous** verses. 

All the choir of writers loves the grove, and flees 
cities, duly a clientff of Bacchus, rejoicing in sleep 
and shade : do you wish that-I among nocturnal and 
diurnal noises should sing, and follow the con- 
tracted!! vestiges§§ of the poets? The genius, 
which has chosen for itself vacant|j|| Athens, and 
given seven years to studies, and grown-old-in books 
and cares, goes-fortMffl mostly more-taciturnly than 
a statue, and with laughter shakes the people ; here 
can I, in the middle-of the waves of affairs and tem- 
pests of the city,#f deign*J to connect words about- 
to-move the sound of the lyre ? 

There was at Rome a rhetorician brother of a 
lawyer, of such a cast that the one in discourse could*§ 
hear the mere honors*|| of the other ; that the lat- 

* Civilly convenient. Ironically. t Clear. 

I Twists up, winds up over your head. § Funeral processions. 

|| For passage. IT Strong. ** Harmt nious. 

ft Votary. It Sequestered. §§ Footsteps. || f] Retired. 

f 1T Turns out. *t State. *J Think meet. 

*§ Would. *|] Merely the praises. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 345 

ter was a Gracchus * to the former, that the former 
vM5 a Muciusf to the latter. How does that fury J 
less vex noisy poets ? I compose verses, this man 
composes elegies, a work wonderful to-be-seen, and 
carved by the nine Muses. Behold you firstly, with 
how-great pride, with how-great importance, we 
can look-around the temple vacant for Roman 
poets§ ! 

Soon also, if haply you are-vacant ||, follow you% 
and afar hear you y what each may bring**, and 
wherefore each may knit for himself a crownff. 
We are-beat, and with as-many blows consume the 
enemy J J, like Samnites§§ in slow duel till the first 
lights||||. / retire and Alcaeus by the puncture^IH of 
him: who does he retire by my puncture^l who 
does he retire, unless a Callimachus*+ ? if seen to 
demand more, he becomes a Mimnermus*}, and in- 
creases*§ by the wished-for surname. / bear many 
things, that / may appease the irritable race of 
poets, when / write, and suppliant court the suf- 



* An orator eminent for his eloquence, 
t A distinguished lawyer. t Madness. 

§ The Palatine library attached to a temple of Apollo. Sat. I. 10. 
Ep. I. 3; II. 1. 

|| Are at leisure. IT Us to the library. ** Produce, 

tt Of laurel. %l We give each other stroke for stroke. 

§§ A clats of gladiators so named from the use of Samnite wea- 
pons. Sat. II. 6. 

IIH Dusk. Sat. II. 7. 
1T1T Votes in the Campus Martius were marked by a puncture— vote. 
*t An elegiac poet. *t Ep. 1.6. *§ In fame. 



346 THE SECOND BOOK OP EPISTLES. 

frages of the people : / the same, my studies being 
finished, and my mind being recovered, can stop 
with-impunity my open ears against* those read- 
ing.? 

Those are-ridiculed, who compose bad verses ; 
but those writing rejoice, and venerate themselves, 
and voluntarily, if you should be-tacit, laud what- 
ever they have written, blest. 

But he who shall desire to have made a legitimate 
poem, will take with his tablets the mindj of an 
honest censor 5 he will dare to move, from their 
place, whatever words shall have little splendor, and 
shall be without weight, and shall be-borne§ un- 
worthy-of honor, though they unwilling may recede, 
and remain still within the penetralia of Vesta||. 
He good will bring-out words obscured long-while 
from the people, and bring-forth into light the spe- 
ciouslf names of things, which, having been men- 
tioned** by the ancient Catonesff and Cethegi|J, 
now a deformed site presses§§, and deserted anti- 
quity : he will adopt new words, which parent use 
shall have produced. Vehement, and liquid, and 



* Obturem.— Stop-against. + Reciting. X Spirit. 

§ Beheld. 
|| The inmost izrts of the temple of Vesta— the study of the 
poet. 

1T Expressive. ** Used, 

tt Followers of Cato, the censor. 519—603 U. C. 
tt Followers of Cethegus, consul 548 U. C, whom Ennius styled 
Suadelce medulla, The marrow of eloquence, 
§§ Oppresses. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 347 

most-like to a pure stream he will pour his riches, 
and bless Latium with a rich tongue. Luxuriant 
words he will confine*; too rough words he will 
polish with sanef culture ; he will take-away words 
wanting in virtue J : he will give the appearance of 
a person playing, and will be-tortured§, as he who 
moves||now a Satyr, now a rustic Cyclops. 

/ should have preferred to seem a delirious^ and 
inert** writer, while my bad verses delight me, or 
at-least escape-notice, than be-wise, and be-indig- 
nant+f. There was a man not ignoble at Argos, 
who believed that-he heard admirable tragedians, a 
joyful sitter and applauder in a vacant theatre ; who 
could serveJJ the other duties of life in a right 
manner ; truly a good neighbour, an amiable host, 
courteous to his wife, who could pardon his slaves, 
and not be-insane§§ the seal of a bottle being hurt|||| ; 
who could avoid a cliff, and an open well. This man, 
when, refected^ffl by the aids and cares of his rela- 
tives, he expelled the disease and bile by mere*t 
hellebore, and returned to himself, "By Pollux, ye 
have killed me, friends, ye have not preserved 
me," he says, " from whom pleasure thus has been ex- 
torted*i, and a most grateful error of mind has been 
taken-away by force." 

* Prune. t Sensible. J Force. § In his invention. 
|| Movetur.— Affects the motii ns of. IT Erroneous. ** Artless, 
tt Be dissatisfied. JJ Support. §§ Be in a fury. 

Illl Broken by the carelessness of a slave. HIT Recovered. 
*t Undiluted. *J Taken away. 



348 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

Doubtlessly it-is a useful thing to be-wise trifles 
being cast-away, and to concede* play seasonable 
for boys ; and not followf words to-be-modulated to 
Latin lyres, but learn-off both the numbers and 
measures of true life. 

Wherefore J say these things with-myself, and 
tacit call-to-mindj ; " If no plenty of water could 
end for you your thirst, you should narrate it to the 
physicians : dare you to confess to no person, that, 
by-how-much more things you have prepared§, by-so- 
much-more things you desire ? If a wound should 
not become lighter,|| by a root or herb shown to 
you, you should refuse to be-cured^]", with a root or 
herb profiting nothing. You had heard that de- 
praved folly departed from him, to whom the Gods 
gave wealth ; and, though you may be by-nothing 
wiser, from the time at which you are fuller**, yet 
will you use the same monitors ? But if riches could 
render you prudent, if they could render you less co- 
vetous and timid ; certainly you might blush, if any- 
one lived on the earths more-avaricious than you 
alone." 

If that thing is his-own, which anyone has pur- 
chased by the scale and money ; if there are some 
things, which, if you credit lawyers, use claims : the 
field which feeds you, is yours ; and the steward of 
Orbius, when he harrows the corn-fields, soon about- 



* Resign. t Scan. % Ruminate. § Acquired. 
I| Be relieved. % Be treated. ** Richer. 



THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 349 

to-give corn* to you, feels you the master : you give 
monies, you accept grape, and pullets, and eggs, and 
a cask of wine : certainly in that manner by-degrees 
you purchase the field, perhaps bought at three-hun- 
dred thousand pieces-of-moneyf, or even more. 
What matters-it, whether you live on money nu- 
merated X lately, or long-ago ? The purchaser 
formerly of the Aricinian and Veientine field sups- 
on bought herb, though he thinks otherwise ; and 
before the cold night makes- warm his brass-vessel § 
with bought logs ; but he calls the land his-own, as- 
far-as where the poplar set-by fixed limits has re- 
fusedjj neighbouring quarrels ; as-if anything can 
be ones-own, which in the pointy of a moveable * # 
hour, now by prayer, now by price, now by force, now 
by the supreme lot, may change masters, and cede 
into others' rightsff. Thus, because perpetual usejt 
is-given to no man, and the heir of one man comes- 
upon the heir of another man, as wave comes-upon 
wave, what do streets§§ profit, or granaries? Or 
what do Lucanian pastures added to Calabrian pas- 
tures profit, if OrcusJlH mows grand things with 
small things, not exorable^ by gold ? 

Gems, and marble, and ivory, and Tyrrhenian 
statues, and tablets*f, and silver, and vests tinctured 



* Frumenta.— Plural number. T Sesterces. 

t On money counted down — on what was paid for. 

§ Caldron. || Prevented. <T Moment. ** Fleeting. 

ti Come into other*' jurisdiction. \% Possession. §§ Houses. 

IIHOd. I. 28. TIT To be bribed. *t Pictures. 

HH 



350 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

with the Getulian murex #, there are some men who 
can not have, there is another man who does not care 
to have. Why one of two brothers may prefer to 
loiter, and play, and to be-anointed, to the rich palm- 
groves of Herodf ; why the other, rich and impor- 
tunej, to^the shade§ from the rising of the light || 
with flames and steel may tamely his woody field ; 
the Genius** knows, who as a companion tempersff 
our natal star, a God of human nature JJ, mortal in- 
respect-of every head§§, mutable in countenance, 
white and black|||. 

i" will use, and take from a moderate heap, as-much- 
as circumstance shall ask ; nor dread what my heir 
may judge of me, because he shall not have found 
more things than those given"[ffl • and yet / the same 
shall wish to know*f, how-much a simple and cheer- 
ful person may differ-from a spendthrift, and how- 
much a sparing person may differ-from an avarici- 
ous man. For it-differs, whether you prodigal scatter 
your goods, or neither unwilling make expense, nor 



* Od. II. 16. 

t To being possessor of the lucrative palm-groves of Herod. The 
Herod here meant is Herod the Great, King of Judea, in whose rei,. n 
the Saviour was born. 

t Urgent. § Evening shade. 

|| Sun. IT Reclaim. 
** This place contains all that can be gathered of the sentiments 
of the ancients relative to the Genius— or guardian angel. 

tt Controls. U Subject to mortality. §§ Person. 

|| || Favorable and unfavorable. 

5Tf Bequeathed me. *t To shew that I know. 



THE SECOND -BOOK OF EPISTLES. 351 

labour to prepare * more goods ; and rather, as when 
a boy in the feasts Quinquatriaf formerly, enjoy the 
short and grateful time hurriedly. 

Let the uncleanj poverty of a house be far ab- 
sent: I, whether /maybe-borne in a great ship or a 
small ship, will be-borne one and the same. We are 
not driven§ with sails tumid || by Aquilo^I favour- 
able; yet we do not lead an age** with adverse 
Austriff : in strength}!, in genius, in appearance, 
in virtue, in place, in estate, the extreme§§ of the 
first mew,yet prior to the extreme |||| men. 

You are not avaricious ; do you go-away %^. 
What ? have other vices already fled together with 
that vice ? is your breast free from*f inane*J ambi- 
tion ? is it free from*f the dread of death, and ire ? Do 
you ridicule dreams, and magic terrors, and miracles, 
and witches, and nocturnal ghosts, and Thessalian 
portents #§ ? Do you gratefully numerate*|| your 
birth-days? do you forgive friends? Do you be- 
come milder and better old-age approaching*^ ? 
What does one thorn taken-out from many thorns 
profit you? If .you know-not-how to live rightly, 

* Acquire. 

t Feasts of five days, in honor of Minerva's birth-day. 

X Sordid. § Agimur. — Are-driven. || Swollen. 

IT Od. 1. 3. 

** Life. tf Od. II. 14. %X Viribus —Plural number. 

§§ Last. IIH The first of the last. 

IT IT Quit the court— you incur no penalty for that. 

*t Caret.— Is- free-from. *J Vain. *§ Prodigies. *||Count. 

*1T As old-age approaches. 



352 THE SECOND BOOK OF EPISTLES. 

retire you for experienced persons*. You have 
played enough, you have eat enough, and drankf : 
it-is time for you to go-away J'; lest the age § more- 
decently lascivious]] should ridicule, and beat you 
having drunk more-largely than what-is-proper. 

* Make -way for those who do know, 
f You have indulged enough in play, eating, and drinking. 
X Retire. § Youth, 

g More becomingly wanton. 



353 



THE 



EPISTLE TO THE PISOS; 

OR 

BOOK 

OF THE ART OF POETRY. 



I. — If a painter should wish to join to a human head 
a horse's neck, and lay various plumes* onf members!: 
collated § from-every-quarter ||, so-that a woman 
beautiful above should shamefully go-off into a 
black fishlf, admitted to view, could ye restrain 
laughter, O friends ? Credit ye, O Pisos**, that-the- 
book would be very-like to that tabletftj of which, as 

* Feathers. t Inducere. — Lay-on. t Limbs. § Collected. 
|| From all sorts of animals. 
1T Terminate in a hideous fish. 
** L. Calpurnius Piso and his two sons, eminent for learning, and 
encouragers of it. 

tt Picture. 

hh3 



354 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

the dreams of a sick man, the vain ideas shall De- 
formed, so-that neither the foot, nor head can be- 
rendered to one form*. Painters and poets always 
have had equal powerf of daring^ anything." We 
know it, and this privilege both seek and give in-turn ; 
but not that ungentle things should come-together§ 
with placid things, not that serpents should be-coupled 
with birds, not that lambs should be-coupled with 
tigers. 

II. To grave undertakings generally and professing|| 
great things one and another purple patch«f[, which 
may widely shine**, is-sewed-onft, whenJJ the 
grove and altar of Diana, and the circuit of water §§ 
hasteninglH through pleasant fields, or the river 
Hhine, or the rainy bow is-described ; but now there 
was not place^IH for these things : and perhaps you 
know-how to simulate*f a cypress ; what is this 
thing**, if he hopeless swims-out from broken ships, 
who money being given is-painted*§ ? A jar began 
to be-instituted # || ; why the wheel running*^! does a 



* Be reduced to uniformity. + Liberty. J Attempting. 
§ Unite. || Such as promise. 

IT One or two purple patches— brilliant descriptions. 
** Make a great show, 
tt Contemptuously. Jt As when. 

§§ Meandering of a stream. |||| Gliding. Iff Room.' 
*t Paint. *J To the purpose. 

*§ If one hopeless escaping shipwreck be the subject, which, at 
a given price, is to be painted. 

*|| Be designed. 
*1T As the potter's wheel revolves. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 355 

pitcher come-out *? Finally let anything be simple 
only and onef. 

III. We the greatest part of poets, O father, and 
youths woithy-of such a father, are-deceived by the 
pearance of right. / labour to be brief, / become 
obscure: nerves and spirits desert} him following 
smooth verses ; a poet having professed grand things 
is-turgid§ ; the poet too cautious and timid of the 
storm creeps on-the-ground||. 

He who desires to vary prodigiously one thing, 
adds-in-paintingU a dolphin in the woods, and in the 
waves a boar. The avoidance of a fault leads into a 
vice, if it wants art.** 

Oneft workman about the iEmilian school].! both 
will express the nails, and imitate in brass the soft 
hairs, unhappy in the sum§§ of the work, because he 
shall not-know-how to put|||| a whole. If / should 
careful to compose anything, I would not more wish 
that-I should be this man, than to live with, a 
crooked nose, to-be-seen*fwith black eyes, and black 
hair. 

* A metaphor from a bad potter, who aims at making a jar, but is 
only able to finish a pitcher. 

t Uniform. \ Are apt to desert. § Is bombastic. 

|| Becomes spiritless. 

IT Proves like the artist who paints, &c. 

** Is wauting in art. tt Any. 

XX JEmilius Lepidus built a gladiator-school, afterwards occupied 

by statuaries, or in the neighbourhood of which they abounded — 

any statuary. 

§§ Main. |||| Represent. HIT Desire. 

*t Though to be admired. 



356 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

IV. — Take* ye, who write, matter equal to your 
strength t 5 and turnt long-while, what thing your 
shoulders may refuse to bear, what thing your 
shoulders may avail to bear%. Neither eloquence 
will desert him, nor a lucid order, by whom a sub- 
ject shall have been powerfully selected ||. 

This will be the virtue and VenusU of order, or I 
am-deceived, that just now** it should say things 
just now** owingff to be-said, and defer most 
things\\, and omit them for the present time**. 

V. — In setting §§ words also tender and cautious, 
the author of a promised poem should love||| this 
word, and spurn^ffi this word. You shall have 
spoken*f excellently, if a skilful juncture* J shall 
have rendered a known*§ word new. If haply it-is 
necessary to shew*|| abstruse things*^" by recent 
indications t*, it-will -befall you to frame words not 
heard by the girded|* Cethegi§* ; and the licence 



* Choose, 
t Viribus.— Plural number. J Revolve. 

§ An allusion to a bearer of burdens, •who, by overloading, some- 
times breaks his back, 

|| Selected according to one's power. IT Beauty. 

** At the outset. 

1 1 Which just now ought. 

XX Details. §§ Choosing. |||| Embrace. ffT Reject. 

*t Expressed yourself. 

*J Collocation. *§ Common. *[] Explain. 

*1T Abdita rerum. — For abditas res, obscure subjects. 

t* New words. 

X* After the fashion of the ancients— ancient. $* Ep. II. 2. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 357 

taken modestly will be-given*. And new and 
lately framed words will have creditf, if they fall J 
from a Greek fount§, sparingly detorted ||. But 
why will the Roman give to Csecilius and Piautus 
that thing which was taken-away ^ from Virgilius** 
and Varius ? why am I enviedff, if 1 am -able to 
acquire a few words, when the tongue of Cato and 
Ennius has enriched our country's language, and 
brought-forward new names^ of things ? It-has- 
been-lawful, and always will be-1 awful, to forge a 
name§§ signed|||| with the present notelffl. 

As the woods are-changed in leaves at the prone 
years *t, the first*! leaves fall : so the old age of 
words perishes, and in the manner of youths those 
words lately born*§ flourish and are-vigorous. We, 
and our works, are-indebted* || to death; whether 
Neptune*5[ received by the earthf* defends the fleets 
from the Aquilonesj* §*, the work of a king||* and the 
marsh long-while sterile, and aptH* for oars, nourish- 
estj neighbouring cities, and feels the heavy plough ; 



* Be allowed. f Authority. J Descend. § Source. 

|| Diverted. H Withheld. ** Od I- 3. 

tt Invideor. — Am-envied. 

U Appellations. §§ Word. |||| Stamped. HIT Mark. 

*+ At the decline of the year. *J Old. 

*§ Produced. *|| Are doomed. *tf The ocean. 

t* As in the Julian port. 

t* Od. 1. 3. §* Classes Aquilonibus.— Vox Aquilones a classibu*. 

!|* The Julian port, begun by Caesar, was completed by Augustus. 

%* Fit. Ep.II. I. 
+J Feedp with its produce is drained and cultivated. Od. II. 1. 



358 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

or the river has changed its course iDjurious to 
fruits, taught a better way :* mortal deeds shall 
perish, much-less can the honor and grace of words 
standi vivacious J. Many words shall revive, which 
now have fallen§; and many words shall fall||, which 
now are in honor, if use^] shall will, in-the-power- 
of whom is the arbitration, and right, and rule of 
speaking. 

VI. — In what number** the things carried-onff 
both of kings and leaders, and sad wars, might be 
written, Homer has shewed. 

In verses unequally joined|| complaint§§ firstly, 
afterward also the fulfilled sentiment of a vow|||| has 
been included^, What author however may have 
emitted*! little elegies, grammarians contend, and 
hitherto the dispute is under*t the judge. 

Rage armed Archilochus with his-own iambic*§ : 
this foot* || the socks*^[ and grand buskinsf* tookj*, 

* Channel. Ep. I. 14. t Continue. % Long-lived. 

§ Fallen off. || Fall off. 

IT Usage. ** Measure. 

tt Exploits. 

XX Couplets, thelines of which are of unequal length, Hexameters 

and Pentameters. 

§§ Subjects of sorrow. 
IIH The feeling of gratified desire— opposed to querimonia— sub- 
jects of delight. 

<HT Expressed. x t First published. *| Before. 

*§ Archilochus invented iambics. Ep. 6. *|| Measure. 

*1T Low-heeled boots worn in comedy — comedians. 

t* High-heeled boots worn in tragedy — tragedians. 

X* Adopted. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 359 

apt* for alternate speechesf, and conquering! popular 
noises, and born§ for things to-be-acted . 

The muse has given to the strings|| to celebrate 
Gods, and the sons of Gods, and the pugilist victor, 
and the horse firstly in the contest, and the cares 
of youths, and free wines. 

VII. — If / am-unable and am-ignorant-how to pre- 
serve the described places**, and colorsff of works, 
why am Isaluted|| poet? Why do /, wrongly modest, 
rather- wish not-to-know, than to learn? 

A comic thing§§ wills not to be-set-forth in tragic 
verses ; likewise the supper of Thyestes|||| disdains to 
be-narrated in private 1HI verses and almost worthy-of 
the sock *f : let each single kinds of poetry having 
been allotted their place, hold zV decently* J. Some- 
times however even comedy raises her voice*§, and 
enraged Chremes* || litigates*^; with tumid mouthf*; 
and the tragedian generally grieves in pedestrian 
discourse^*. Telephus and Peleus, when poor and 
an exile, each casts-away rants§* and words a-foot- 
and-a-half-long||* if he cares to have touched the 
heart of the beholding person^*. 

* Fit. t Dialogues. J Overpowering, § Formed. || Lyre. 
If Foremost. ** Topics. tt Measures. 
tt Salutor. — Am-saluted. §§ Subject. 

Illl For tragic subjects. Thyestes ate his cbildren, whom Atreus 
served up to him. 

1T1T Familiar. 
*t The low-heeled boot worn by comedians— comedy. 
•J Becomingly. *§ Style. *|| In Terence's Heautontimorumenos. 
*H Storms, t* Swelling language. J* Prosaic style. 

§* Bombasts. H* Of great length. f* Spectator. 



360 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

VIII. It-is not enough that-poems are beautiful ; 
let them be sweet,* and lead the mind of the auditor, 
whithersoever they shall wish. As human countenan- 
ces smile-on those smiling, so they are-withf those 
weeping. If you wish that-I should weep, it-is to-be- 
grieved firstly J by you yourself; then your mis- 
fortunes will hurt§ me. Telephus, or Peleus||, 
if you shall speak^[ badly the parts committed to 
you, I either shall sleep, or laugh. Sorrowful words 
become a mournful countenance; words full of threats 
become an enraged countenance, lascivious** words 
become a playingff countenance, words serious to-be- 
said become a severeJJ countenance. For nature first 
forms us within to every habit of fortunes; she de- 
lights, or impels to ire, or brings-down to the ground 
with heavy sorrow, and vexes ; afterwards she brings- 
forth the motions §§ of the mind, the tongue being 
interpreter. If the words of the speaking person 
shall be dissonantyrom his fortunes, the Roman horse- 
men|i|] and footmenlffi will raise a laugh. It-will- 
differ much, whether Davus*f speaks, or a hero ; 
whether a mature old-man* J, or a young-man as-yet 
fervid with flourishing youth; whether a potent 
matron, or a sedulous nurse ; whether a wandering 

* Sweetly moving. t Sympathise with. 

t Grief must be expressed first. § Affect. 

|| Representative of Telephus or Peleus. IF Recite. ♦•Wanton. 

ft Playful. XX Austere. §§ Emotions. |||| Knights. 

r «l Plebeians. *+ For any slave. Sat. II. 5, 4. 

*J An old-man full cf years. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE TISOS. 361 

merchant, or the cultivator of a verdant little-field* ; 
ivheUier a Colchian, or an Assyrian; whether one nur- 
tured at Thebes, or at Argos. 

IX. — Either follow you famef, or feign* things 
convenient to themselves§, O writer. If haply you 
represent honoured Achilles, let him be active, and 
irascible, and inexorable, and sharp, let him deny 
that-laws, were born|| for him, nothing let him not 
arrogated! for arms : let Medea be ferocious, and in- 
vincible, let Ino be weeping, let Ixion be perfidious, 
let Io be wandering, let Orestes be sad. 

If you commit anything inexperienced** to the 
sceneff , and dare to form a new personJJ, let it be- 
preserved to the last, such-as from the beginning it 
shall have proceeded, and be-constant to itself. §§ 
It-itf a difficult thing properly to say|||| common 
things %% ; and you more-rightly draw-out*f the 
Ilian poem*]; into acts*§, than if you first should 
bring-forward subjects unknown and untold* ||. 

Public material will be of private right*H, if you 
shall delajf* neither around the vile and open 
orb];*; nor case to render word for word as a faithful 

* Small farm. t Tradition. J Invent. 

§ Consistent with themselves. 

II Made. 1T Let him arrogate everything. 

** Hitherto unattempted. ft Stage. J J Character. 

§§ Be consistent with itself. |||| Express. ITU" New subjects. 

*t Divide. * J Iliad. *§ Dramatise the Iliad. 

*|| Not hefore treated. 

*f Will become your private right. f* Dwell. 

t* Neither upon the common and ohvious circle of particulars, 

II 



3G2 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

interpreter ; nor leap-down* as an imitator into a 
straitf, whence shame, or the law of the work, may 
forbid that-you advance a footj. 

Nor thus shall you begin, as the cyclic write 
formerly: "/ will sing the fortune of Priamus 
and the noble warlf." "What thing will this pro- 
miser** bring ff worthy-of so-great an hiatus JJ? 
The mountains are-in-laborj a ridiculous mouse will 
be-born§§. By-how-much more-rightly he begins, 
who Undertakes nothing inaptly || || : " Sing you to me, 
O Muse, the man, who, after the times of taken 
Troy5[^j\ saw*f the manners of many men, and 
cities* J." He cogitates*§ not to give smoke from a 
flash, but light from smoke, that from-hence he may 
bring-forth specious* || miracles, Antiphates, and 
Scylla, and, with the Cyclops, Charybdis. Nor does 
he begin the return of Diomedes*H from the death 
of Meleager, nor the Trojan war from the double 
eggf*. Always he hastens to the event, and hurries 
the auditor into the middle-of things, not otherwise 
thanj* known, and those things which he despairs 

* Precipitately throw yourself. t Narrow compass. X Retreat. 
§ Itinerant bard. || Od. I. 10. 

f Trojan war. ** Boaster. tt Produce. 

XX Opening, announcement. 
§§ Proverbial for great promises, and small performances. 
H || Foolishly. TIT After the time of the capture of Troy. 

*t Surveyed. *J The first two verses of the Odyssey. 
*§ Meditates. *|| Sightly. 

*1T From the Trojan war. 
f * From the birth of Helen hatched from one of Leda's eggs. 
1* Just as if. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 363 

having been treated can shine*, he relinquishes!; 
and so feignsj, and so mixes false things with true 
things, that the middle may not§ disagree \\ with 
the beginning, that the end may not§ disagree || with 
the middle. 

X. — Do you hear, what I desire, and the people 
with-me desires. If you desire an applauder awaiting 
the curtains^", and even about-to-sit, until the singer 
says, " Do ye applaud,"** the manners of each age 
are to-be-notedff by you, and to moveableJJ na* 
tures and years the decorum is to-be-given§§. 

The boy who now knows-how to render voices-H 1 ,}), 
and with certainlllf foot signs *f the ground, delight^, 
to play-with equals, and collects and puts-away his 
ire rashly, and is-changed for the hours*}. 

The beardless youth, at-length his guardian being 
yemoved, delights in horses, and dogs, and the grass of 
the sunny plain*§ j waxen*|| to be-bent to vice, rough 
to monitors, a tardy provider of useful things, pro- 
digal of money, sublime*^, and eager, and swift to 
relinquish things loved. 

* Receive a polish, t Omits. J Forms fictions. 

§ Ne.— That -not. || Be inconsistent. 

IF The close of the performance, when the curtain was drawn up 
from below, not let down from above. Ep. II. 1. 

** One of the actors concluded the piece with the wordi Vos 
plaudite. 

tt Must be marked. % \ Varying. §§ Must be assigned. 

IHI Utter words. UH Firm. *t Prints. 

*J Hourly. *§ Campus Martius. *|l Pliable, as wax. 

*H Haughty, 



364 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

Studies being converted*, the age and manly 
mind seeks riches and friendships, and is-subservient 
to honor, and is-cautious to have committed that thing 
which scon it may labourf to change. 

Many inconveniences circumvent J an old-man ; 
either because he seeks, and miserable abstains from 
the things acquired, and fears to use them; or because 
he timidly and coldly ministers§ all things; a de- 
layer, long in hope, inert, and greedy of the future, 
difficult]], querulous, a lauder of the time passed him- 
self being a boy, a castigator, and censor of minors^. 

Years coming** bring many advantages with-them, 
receding years take-away many advantages. Lest 
haply old-mens' parts should be-cemmitted to a young- 
man, and mens' parts should be-committed to a boy, 
always we shall delayff on the things adjoined and 
apt|J to the age. 

XL — Either a thing is-done in the scenes§§, or 
having been done is-reported. Things sent-down 
into the ear more-sluggishly irritate j||| minds, than 
those things which are subjected to the faithful eyes, 
and which the spectator himself delivers to himself. 
You shall not however bring-forward on the scene^ 
things worthy to be-acted within*f; and shall take- 
away many things from the eyes, which soon 

* Inclinations being changed. t Desire. J Surround. 

§ Manages. || Morose. IT Juniors. 

** As they advance. tt Must dwell. tt Adapted. 

§§ On the stage. |||| Stir. 1HT Stage. 

*t Behind the scenes — not on the stage. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 365 

present eloquence* may narrate. Let not Medea 
murder her children before the people, or nefarious 
Atreus cook human entrails openlyf, or let Progne 
be-turned into a bird, or Cadmus into a snake: 
i Iiatever thing you shew to me thus, incredulous I 
hate. 

XII. — Let a fabled, which wishes to be-asked- 
for, and having been seen to be-represented§, be 
neither less]}, nor more-produced^ than the fifth 
act. Neither let a God interpose, unless a knot** 
worthy -of the delivererff shall have fallen-out|| ; nor 
let a fourth person labour §§ to speak. 

Let the chorus defend the parts and manly office of 
the actor ; nor let it sing anything between|||| the 
middle-of the acts, which may not conduce to the 
purpose, and adhere aptly. Let it both favour good 
men, and counsel friends, and rule enraged men, and 
love those fearing to sin ; let it laud the repasts of a 
briefs % table ; let it laud salubrious justice, and laws, 
and peace*f with open gates* J ; let it cover *§ things 
committed to it*\\ ; and pray and entreat the Gods, 
that fortune may return to miserable persons, and 
depart from proud persons. 

* The recitation of the actor on the stage. 
t See before. % Play. § Be again presented. 

[| Shorter. IT Longer. ** Difficulty. 

ft Who resolves the knot. %% Happened. §§ Strain. 

Illl Intercinat.— Sing-between. flT Frugal. 

*t Otia- — Plural number. 

*I In peace city gates are open. Od. III. 5. *§ Conceal. 

*|| Secrets confided to its honor. 

II 6 



366 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

XIII. — The pipe not, as now, bound with moun- 
tain-brass, and emulous of the trumpet, but slender, 
and simple, with few holesf, was useful to accom- 
pany and assist the chorusses, and fill the seats not- 
yet crowded too-much with its blast; whither truly 
the people numerable f, inasmuch-as small, and fru- 
gal, and chaste, and modest, came-together. 

After-that the victor began to extend his fields, 
and a wider wall began to surround the city, and the 
Genius began to be-appeased with diurnal winet on 
festal days with-impunity§, a greater licence came- 
to || both the numbers % and measures**. For 
what could an untaught rustic, and free-from labors, 
know, confusedff with the urbane man, the base man 
confused^ with the honest man\\ ? 

Thus the piper added both motion §§ and luxuri- 
ancel! II to ancient art, and wandering drew his vest 
over the stages. Thus also voiceslffi increased*f to 
the severe strings*!, and precipitate eloquence bore*§ 
an unaccustomed elocution, and the sentiment saga- 
cious of useful things, and prophetic of the future, 
differed not from oracular Delphi*||. 



* Foramine pavco. — Singular number. t Easily numbered. 

t Wine by day. § Freely. || Accrued to. 
IT Of poetry. ** Of music. ft Mingled. 

IX Up to tlie year 508, U. C. senators, knights, and people, mingled 
in the theatres. 

§§ Dancing. |||| Dress. flf Notes. 

*+ Were added. *J Lyres. *§ Produced. 

*|| The oracles of Delphi. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 367 

XIV. — He who contended in tragic verse for a vile 
goat* soon also made-nakedf the rustic Satyrs, 
and rough, gravity being preserved, attempted joke; 
for-this-reason, because the spectator, having both 
performed the sacred-things!, and drunk, and law- 
less, was to-be-delayed§ by allurements and grateful 
novelty. 

But it-will-be-convenienti| so lo commend% the 
laughers, so to commendU the talkative Satyrs, so 
to turn serious things to play, that whatever God, 
whatever hero shall be-exhibited, he may not, con- 
spicuous in regal gold lately and purple, migrate by 
humble discourse into obscure shops**; or, while he 
avoids the ground, cat.ch-at clouds and inane things. 
Tragedy indignant to pour-forth light verses, as a 
matron commanded to danceft on festal days, a little 
modest will differ from the wanton Satyrs. 

I will not, O PisostJ, as a writer of Satires, love 
unornamented and. dominant names§§ only; nor so 
endeavour to differ-from the tragic color ||||, that it 
should nothing differ^! whether Davus*f speaks, and 
audacious Pythias*}, having gained a talent from the 



* The winner's reward, whence tragedy takes its name, 
Tpaycobia, the song of the goat. 

1- Exhibited naked. J Sacred rites. § To be amused. 

I) It will be proper. IT Recommend. 

** Deviate into the low style of obscure shops. 

H Moveri— Passive voice. %% See before. §§ Words. 

|| || Complexion. ITU Intemit.— It-shoukl-differ. 

*f A footman. *% A servant-maid. 



368 THE EPISTLE TO THE FISOS. 

cheated Simo, or Silenus the guardian and servant of 
the God his foster-child -*. 

From a known subject I will follow^ a feigned^ 
poem, so-that anyone may hope the same thing for 
himself, yet having attempted the same thing, may 
sweat much, and in-vain labour; so-much series§ 
and juncture || avails ! so-much honorH comes-to 
subjects** taken from the middleff ! 

The Fauns brought-out/rom the woods should take- 
care, I being judge, lest, as-if born-in the three- 
ways % X, or almost forensic§§, they either should 
wanton in too tender verses ever, or utter unclean 
and ignominious words : for they are-offended who 
have a horse||||, and a father^ffl, and an estate*f : nor, 
if the buyer of parched cicer and a nut*J anywhat 
approves, accept it with equal*§ minds, or present it 
with a crown*||. 

XV. — A long syllable put-after a short syllable 
is-called an iambus, a quick foot *H : whence also it 
orderedf* that-the-name should increase-to trimeter 
iambics!*, though it rendered six beats§*, the first 

* Bacchus. t Execute. J Fictitious. § Arrangement. 

|| Connection. IT Grace. ** Is added to subjects. 

tt From common life. Ep. II. I. 

tt Streets— city. §§ Belonging to the bar. |||| The knights. 

1T1T Persons of birth. *t Persons of fortune. 

*l One of the populace, which class amused themselves with 

eating parched cicer and nuts in the theatre. 

*§ Favourable. * I Of laurel. *5T Measure, 

t* Humorously, for what the poet determined. 
t* Iambics of three measures, as if two feet made one metre. 
§* Consisted of six feet 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 369 

beat to the last beat like to itself*: not very long- 
since, that it might come to the ears a little more- 
tardy and more-grave, accommodating and patientf 
it received the stable spondees J into paternal 
rights; not that it should cede § from the second or 
fourth seat || sociably^. This foot** too appears 
rare in the noble trimetersff of Accius, and pressesJt 
the verses of Ennius sent to the scene§§ with great 
weight, either with the shameful charge of a work 
too hasty and wanting care, or of unknown art. || || 

Not every judge seeslffl unmodulated poems: and 
an unworthy indulgence has been given to Roman 
poets. Therefore should 7" wander, and write licen- 
tiously, though / should suppose that-all persons are 
about-to-see my faults, safe, and cautious within the 
hope of pardon ? 7" have avoided in-short blame, / 
have not merited praise. 

Do ye turn*f the Grecian exemplars with your noc- 
turnal hand* X, do ye turn*+ them with your diurnal 
hand*§. u But your ancestors lauded both the Plau- 
tine numbers and salts*||." Too patiently, that / may 
not*if say foolishly, having admired each; if only 
I and ye know how to separate an inurbane t* saying 

* All iambic feet. + Obliging. t Measures of two long feet. 

§ Recede. || Place. H By social compact. 

** Measure — the iambus. 

tt Versesof three measures, of two feet each. %% Oppresses. 

§§ Stage. HII Ignorance of his art. If IT Discerns. 

*t Turn over. *J Hand by night. 

*§ Hand by day. * || Measures and jests of Plautus, a Roman poet . 

*1T Ne.— That-not. t* Inelegant. 



370 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

• 

from a witty saying, and know the legitimate 
sound* by the lingers and the ear. 

XVI. — Thespis is-said to have invented an un- 
known kind of tragic poetry, and carried poems in 
waggons, which men besmeared as to their faces 
with lees-of-wine sang and acted. After him, iEschy- 
lus the discoverer of the mask and honestf pall, 
both strewed the stages uponj moderate beams §, 
and taught both to speak greatly j|, and strut with 
the buskin. The old comedy succeeded to these men, 
not without much laud ; but the liberty fell-off into 
viceH, and a violence worthy to be-ruled by law : a 
law has been accepted, and the chorus shamefully 
became silent, the right of hurting** being taken- 
away. 

Our poets have left nothing unattempted : nor have 
they merited the least honor, having dared to desert 
the Grecian vestigesft, and celebrate domestic facts||, 
who either have taught bordered plays%, or who 
have taught toged plays\\\\. Nor could Latium be 
more-potent by valor or illustrious arms, than Ian- 
guage, if the labor and delay of the filelfH offended 
not every-one of the poets. Do ye, O Pompilian 

* Regular cadence. t Decent. % Instravit— Strewed-upon. 

§ Placed boards on low scaffoldings for a stage. 

| With dignity. 11 Excess. ** Libelling. 

tt The footsteps of the Greeks. 

XX Achievements of their own countrymen. 

§§ Plays, the characters of which wore bordered robes— tragedies. 

|j|| Plays, the characters of which wore the toga, or plain gown — 

comedies. 

UH Correction. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 371 

blood *, reprehend the poem, which many a day and 
many a smearing! has not coercedj, and not ten- 
times castigated§ to the fresh-cut nail||. 

XVII. — Because Democritus believes that-genius 
is more-foi'tuuateH than miserable art, and excludes 
sane** poets from Heliconf f, a good part does not 
care to lay-aside XX their nails, a good part does not 
care to lay-aside\\ their beard; a good part seeks 
secret§§ places, a good part avoids the baths ||||. 
Forlffl he shall obtain the price*f and name of a 
poet, if he never shall have committed his head in- 
curable by three Anticyras*t to the barber Licinus. 
O I foolish, who am-purged/or bile at the hour of the 
vernal time*§ ! Not another person could make better 
poems: but nothing is of-so-much-value*|| ; therefore 
/ will discharge the place of a whetstone, which 
avails to render iron acute, itself without-the-lot*H of 
cutting : I-myself writing nothing will teach the 
duty and office ; whence materials may be-procured ; 
what thing may nourish and form a poet ; what 



* Calpus* from whom the Calpurnian Pisos derived their name, was 
a son of Numa Pompilius. 

t Correction. % Pruned. § Corrected. 

|| A fresh-cut nail feels a roughness more delicately. Sat. 1.5. 
IT More successful, ** Uninspired, 

tt Sacred to the Muses. J J Part with. §§ Retired. 

|| || Where there are always crowds. ITf Ironically. 

*t Esteem. *J Sat. II. 3. 

*§ If madness make a poet, how foolish am I purging away the 
bile every spring; for this might qualify me for making verses. 
*J As soundness of intellect. *1T Incapable. 



372 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

thing may become, what thing may uot become ; 
whither virtue*, whither error may bring. 

XVIII. To be-wise is both the principle and 
fountain of writing rightly : the Socratic papersf 
will be-able to shew to you a subject ; and words 
not unwilling will follow the provided subject. 

He who has learned what he may owe to his country, 
and what he may owe to his friends, with what love a 
parent may be to-be-loved, with what love a brother 
mtiy be to-be-loved, and a stranger, what may be 
the office of a conscript father^, what may be the 
office of a judge, what may be the parts§ of a leader 
sent into war, he truly knows-how to render|j things 
convenient^ to every person. 

/ will order the learned imitator to respect the 
exemplar of life and morals, and hence draw true 
words**. 

Sometimes a fableff speciousjt in places§§, and 
adapted-to-the-morals rightly, of no beauty, without 
weight and art, more-powerfully delights the people, 
and better delaysj|||, than verses devoid of subjects, 
and canorous^IH trifles. 

To the Greeks avaricious of nothing except laud, 
the Muse has given genius, to the Greeks the Muse 
has given to speak with a rotund mouth*f. The 

* Genius and art. t Writings of the school of Socrates. 

X Of a senator. § Duties. || Assign. 

IT Appropriate. ** Expressions. t + Play. %% Showy. 

§§ Topics. || || Amuses. HIT Harmonious. 

*t A mouth from which round, smooth speech proceeds. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 373 

Roman boys by long reckonings learn to divide an 
as* into a hundred parts. 

Let the son of Albinus sayj, " If from a quin- 
cunx § an ounce has been removed, what is- 
over ?" 

You were-able|| to have said, " Triens^." 

"Well ! you will be-able to preserve your estate." 
An ounce returns : what makes it ? 

« Half-an-as**." 

Whether, when this rustf t and care of property 
once shall have imbued minds, do we hope that- 
verses can be-made to-be-smeared with cedar, and 
to-be-preserved in smooth cypresstt ? 

XIX. — Poets wish either to profit, or delight, or 
say things at-the-same-time both pleasant and ser- 
viceable for life. 

Whatever you shall advise, be you brief ; that do- 
cile minds quickly may perceive the things said, and 
faithful retain them : every thing supervacaneous§§ 
flows from the full breast|j||. 

Let things feigned for the cause ^[^[ of pleasure be 
the nearest*t to truths : nor whatever it shall wish, 

* Sat. I. 1. t An usurer. % By way of proof. 

§ Five ounces. || If you were able. 

If A third of a pound. ** Half a pound, or six ounces, 

tt Avarice. 
XX Worthy to be rubbed with cedar oil and kept in a chest of cy- 
press-wood to protect them. 

§§ Superfluous. |||| Mind. INT Sake. 
*t As near as possible. 

KK 



374 THE EPISTLE TO THE PfSOS. 

let a fable ask for itself to be-credited : nor extract a 
live child from the belly of dined Lamia*. 

The centuries! of seniors agitatej things void 
of fruit§ ; the high Ramnes || pass-by austere 
poems : he has carried every puncture^, who has 
mixed the useful thing with the sweet thing, by de- 
lighting the reader, and equally** monishing. This 
book merits brassesff for the SosiUi ; this book 
both goes-over the sea, and prorogues§§ to the known 
writer a long age. 

There are delinquencies however, which we would 
wish to pardon : for neither does the chord|||| renderlffl 
the sound, which the hand and mind wishes, and to 
him asking a grave*f sound very-often remits an 
acute* J sound ; nor always will the bow strike what- 
ever it shall threaten. But when more things 
shine *§ in a poem, I will not be-offended with a few 
spots* ||, which either want-of-care has shed*U, or 
human nature has little taken-care-of f*. What 

* Of Lamia having dined upon it — an incredible thing. Lamia, 
here mentioned, was a monstrous female. 

t An allusion to the Romans voting by centuries— tribes. 
% Reject. § Instruction. 

|| A name given by Romulus to one of the three centuries of 
knights established by him — knights. 

11 Vote. Ep. II. 2. ** At the same time. 

tt Earns money. tt Ep. I. 20. §§ Extends. |||| String. 

1T1T Always render. *t Flat. *t Sharp. 

*§ The beauties shine more numerous. *|| Blemishes. 

*U Let fall. t* Guarded against. 



TI1E EFIWTLE TO THE PISOS. 375 

therefore is-it ? As a writer concerned-with-books* 
if he errs as-to the same thing continually, though he 
has been monished, is-without pardon ; and the har- 
per is-ridiculed, who always errs on the same chordf : 
so to me, he who much errs, becomes that Choeri- 
lust, whom twice and thrice good, / admire with 
laughter ; and the same am-indignant, whenever 
good Homer is-sleepy. But it-is lawful that-sleep 
should creep-upon a long work. 

As a picture so is poesy ; there will be one 
picture which, if you should stand nearer, will capti- 
vate more, and a certain-one if you should stand-off 
farther; this picture loves obscurity, this picture 
which does not dread the subtle acumen§ of the judge, 
will wish to be-seen in the light : this picture has 
pleased at-once, this picture ten-times repeated will 
please. 

XX. — major || of the youths^, though both by 
the paternal voice you are-formed to right, and by 
yourself are-wise, do you mindful take this word** 
to yourself : that-a-medium and tolerable degree of 
merit rightly is-conceded to certain things : the man 
skilled-in the law and the mediocre pleader of causes 
is-far from the virtue of eloquent Messalaff, nor 
knows as-much-as Cascellius AulusJJ ; but yet he is in 

* A transcriber of books. t String, 

J Another Chcerilus. Ep. II. 1. § Nice discernment, 

|| Elder. H The Pisos. ** Maxim. 

tt M. Valerius Corvinus Messala. Sat. I. 10. 

XX Distinguished for legal knowledge. 



376 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

price * : to poets not men, not Gods, not the 
columnsf have conceded to be mediocre. As at 
grateful tablesj discordant symphony, § and thick 
unguent, and poppy with Sardinian honey [] offend ; 
because the supper was-able to be-lead^f without 
those things: so a poem born** and invented /or 
delighting minds, if a little it has departed from the 
summit, verges to the bottomft. 

He who knows-not-how to play, abstains from the 
campestrian armstt ; and the man unskilled-in the 
ball, or quoit, or troque§§, is-quiet, lest the crowded 
rings || || should raise a laugh with-impunity^flf : he 
who knows-not-how, notwithstanding dares to make 
verses. 

"Why not*f? he is free*+ and ingenuous*§, be- 
sides rated at the equestrian sum of monies* j|, and 
remote from every vice !" 

You will say or do nothing Minerva being unwil- 

* Esteem, 
t On which booksellers exposed their books — booksellers. 
Sat. I. 4. 

t Agreeable banquets. § Music. 

II Sardinia abounded in bitter herbs, whence the honey was bitter 
— the worst honey. 

IT Be prolonged. ** Created, 

tt Like any substance thrown into water— if it sink ever so little 
from the top, it drops to the bottom. 

tJ Arms of the Campus Martius. §§ Od. III. 24. 

IIH Of spectators. TO Without restraint. 

*t Why not §c — The words of young Piso. 

*J To do as he pleases. *§ Well-bred. 

*|| At a knight's estate— 400,000 sesterces. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 377 

ling* ; you have that judgment, you have that mind : 
if however you ever shall have written anything, let 
it descend into the ears of Metius the judge, and your 
father, and our ears, and be-pressedf till the ninth 
year, your membranes J being laid within §. It- 
will-be-possible to blot-out, what you shall not have 
edited || ; a word sentH knows-not to return. 

XXI. — Sylvan** men Orpheus the priest and in- 
terpreter of the Gods deterred from slaughters and 
foul living ; said on-account-of this thing to sooth 
tigers, and rabid lions : also Amphion, the builder of 
the Theban citadel, has been said to move stones by 
the sound of his lyre, and by his bland prayerff lead 
them whither he might wish. This has been wisdom 
formerly, to separate public things /rom private things, 
and sacred things from profane things ; to prohibit 
from vague concubinage ; to give rights to husbands ; 
to plan towns ; to cut laws on|J wood§§ : thus honor 
and a name came to divine poets and verses. After 
these persons distinguished Homer and Tyrtceus 
sharpened manly minds to Martial wars by verses; 
by verses lots||| have been spoken, and the waylHT of 
life has been shewn ; and the grace*f of kings has 

* Genius, of which Minerva was Goddess, refusing assistance. 

t Be suppressed. t Parchments. Sat. II. 3. 

§ In your study. || Published. 1T Sent forth. ** Wild. 

ft Persuasive music. JJ Incidere. — Cut-on. 

§§ The first laws were written in verse, and engraved on wooden 

tables- 

Illl Oracles. HIT Conduct. *t Favor. 

KK 3 



378 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

been assayed in Pierian measures*; and play has 
been foundf, and an end of long worksj : these things 
I mention, lest haply the Muse skilful-with the lyre 
should be a subject-of-shame to you, and the singer 
Apollo§. 

It has been questioned, whether a laudable poem 
could be-made by nature) or art : I neither see what 
study can-do without a rich vein|l, nor rude genius: 
the one thing so asks the aid of the other thing, and 
combines amicably. 

He who desires to attain the wished-for goal in the 
course, has borne and done many things when a boy, 
he has sweated and felt-cold ; he has abstained from 
Venus^l and wine : the piper** who sings the Py- 
thiaff 5 has learned first, and feared a master. Nor 
is-it enough to have said : " I make admirable poems ; 
let the scab occupy +1 the last perso?i§§, to me it-is a 
shameful thing to be-left-behind, and to confess that- 
I truly do not-know that' thing which /"have not 
learned||||." 

XXII. — As a prsecoTi% who collects a crowd to buy 

* The Muses' measures Od. IV. 3. 
t The drama has been introduced. 
% And a mode of ending the long labors of harvest. Ep. II. 1. 
§ Apollo presided over singing. 
(] Of genius. IT Venery, ** Musician, 

tt Apollo having killed the serpent Python, was styled Pythius, 
and the verses in commemoration, Pythia. 

XX Seize. §§ Proverbial— let every one take care of himself. 
llll The sentiments, probably, of one of the class described. 
HIT Sat. I. 6. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 379 

wares, a poet, rich in fields, rich in monies placed in 
usury, bids assentators # to comef for lucre. If 
moreover he is one who can rightly serve % an 
anointed § person, and be-sponsor || for a light % 
pauper, and rescue him having been implicated in 
black** suits, /shall wonder, if he blessed shall know- 
how to distinguish-between a mendacious and a true 
friend. 

Be you, whether you shall have given, or shall 
wish to give anything to anyone, unwillingtf to lead 
him full of joy to verses! t made by you : for he will 
cry, "Finely! well! rightly! he will become-pale, 
above these things even he will drop dew§§ from his 
friendly eyes; he will leap, he will beat the ground 
with his foot || || . As those, who having been hired 
lament at a funeral, say and do nearly more things 
than those grieving from the mind, so the derider^ 
is-moved more than the true lauder. KiDgs*f are- 
said to urge #J with many cups, and torture*§ with 
wine, him whom they labour -*|j to have seen-through, 
whether he maybe worthy-of friendship. - If you shall 
compose verses, never let minds lurking under the 
fox*H deceive you. 



* Flatterers. t To praise his poetry. J Entertain. § Ep. I. 17. 

| Be surety. IT Worthless. ** Gloomy, 

tt Nolito. — Be-unwilling. U To hear verses. §§ A dewy tear. 
Illl For joy. ^flT False praiser. *t Rich men. 

*J Ply. *§ Try. *p Desire. 
*tf An allusion to the fable of " The Fox and the Crow"— inten- 
tions disguised under a sly outside. 



380 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

If you should recite anything to Quintilius *, 
" Correct you, I-pray, this thing" he did say, " and 
this thing;" if you should deny that-you, twice and 
thrice having experimentedf in-vain, can-do better, 
he did order you to blot-out, and return to the anvil 
the badly turnedj verses. If you should more-wish 
to [defend, than turn§ your delinquency, he did con- 
sume no word further, or inane|| labor, but without 
a rival you alone might lovell both yourself and 
your verses. 

A man good** and prudent ft will reprehend 
inertJJ verses, he will blame hard§§ verses, he will 
smear-on unornamented verses a black sign|||| with 
his transverse reedlffl, he will rescind*f ambitious 
ornaments, he will compel you to give light to verses 
little clear, he will argue*J a thing ambiguously 
said*§, he will note the things to-be-changed : he will 
become an Aristarchus*|| ; he will not say, "Why 
should I offend my friend in trifles ?" These trifles 
will lead him into serious evils having been 
derided*^ once and excepted in-a-sinister-man- 
nerf*. 

* Quintilius Varus, the poet. Od. I. 24. f Tried. 

% Polished. § Change, correct. 1 Vain. IT Be fond of. 
** Sincere. tt Sensible. 

1% Artless, spiritless. §§ Harsh. |||| Mark. 

1HT Pen drawn across. 
*\ Retrench. * t Point out. *§ Expressed. 

*|| A severe critic. 
*H Duped, t* Applauded insidiously. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 381 

As him whom a bad scab or the royal disease * 
urgesf, 'or fanatical errorj, and angry Diana§, those 
who are-wise fear to have touched and flee an insane 
poet; the boys agitate, || and incautious follow 
him. 

If he, while he sublime^! belches-forth verses, and 
wanders, like a bird-catcher intent on black-birds, 
falls-down into a well or pit, though long he should 
cry, " Succour ye, Oh citizens !" let there not be any- 
one who would care to raise him. If anyone should 
care to bring aid, and let-down a rope, how do you 
know whether he prudent** may have cast himself 
downff hither, and would be -unwilling to be-saved ? 
/ will tell, and narrate the death of the Sicilian poet : 
While Empedocles desires to be-held an immortal 
God, he frigid^! lept-into ardent iEtna§§. Let-it- 
be a right, and let-it-be-lawful for poets to perish: 
he who saves a poet unwilling ||||, does the same 
thing with a person killing^] ^\ him. Neither once has 
he done this thing ; nor, if he shall have been re- 

* The jaundice— so called from the remedies being too costly for 
any hut kings or rich persons. 

f Oppresses. 
% That kind ef insanity which prompts the person seized with it 
to wander. 

§ The malignant influence of the moon— lunacy. 

|| Chase. IT With erect head. ** With design. 

tt Dejecerit — Cast- down. 

tt Frigidus-— Jocularly opposed to ardentem. 

§§ The crater of JEtna. || || Against his will. 

HU Occidenti.—A Grecism for cum occidente, or ac occidcns. 



f _ 

: ] 

L-r 

382 THE EPISTLE TO THE PISOS. 

tracted*, now will he become a mant, and put-aside 
the love of a famous death. Nor sufficiently does-it- 
appear why he may make verses ; whether he may 
have made-water upon a father's ashesj, or un- 
chaste§ moved a sad bidental j| : certainly he is- 
furiousf , and as a bear, if he has availed to break 
the bars opposed to his cave**, the untimely ft re- 
citer puts-to-flight the unlearned and learned per- 
son; whomsoever moreover he has seized-on, he 
holds and kills by reading^, a leech not about-to-let- 
go the skin, unless full of blood, 

* Drawn back. t A sensible man. 

J Whether he may have been driven mad in consequence of vio- 
lating the sanctity of his father's grave — committing some impiety. 
§ Impious. 
U A place struck by lightning, where a bidens (Od. III. 23; was 
sacrificed. 

Uls-mad. ** Cage. ft Vexatious. JJ Reciting. 



THE END. 



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